Chinese tourist destroys ancient stalagmite

A Chinese tourist has destroyed in a few seconds what took nature thousands of years to create after intentionally breaking a stalagmite with his foot.

Security footage shared on YouTube on June 1 shows a man standing in a cave in Songtao county in the Guizhou province when he looks down at a nearby stalagmite.

The man proceeds to repeatedly kick the rock formation - which would have taken dripping water several thousand years to form - as other tourists take photos and walk through the cave network.

After several powerful kicks the stalagmite snaps off and falls to the ground as the tourist casually walks away.

Cave enthusiast Wang Dayong told the Beijing Youth Daily he was disgusted by the vandalism.

"This is a deliberate action. We should have a black list to prevent badly-behaved tourists from entering similar scenic spots."

The stalagmite will be appraised in a laboratory to assess its worth and the tourist may be charged.