A series of photos featuring a nude woman posing within the Palace Museum, or Forbidden City, in Beijing triggered controversy when they were posted on Sina Weibo on May 17 by photographer Wang Dong, who also goes by the handle WANIMAL.

In a statement issued on Monday, The Palace Museum, said that such behavior should be "condemned by society."

"The Palace Museum possesses a unique identity as a world cultural heritage site and a world famous museum. It receives millions of visitors from around the world. Taking public photos such as these at a world heritage site, especially shooting someone sitting on a dragon head belonging to a cultural heritage building, not only violates the public order and social morals, but also severely affects the cultural atmosphere that the Palace Museum should maintain, as well as damages the cultural relics themselves and the dignity of [China's] cultural heritage," the statement said as translated from Chinese.

According to the museum, security camera footage shows that at 8:30 am on May 17, four visitors ran ahead of other visitors into the museum. Among them was a woman wearing long grey clothing.

At 8:50, staff at the museum discovered the group taking inappropriate photos at The Hall of Supreme Harmony (taihe dian) during a patrol and stopped them.

Based on previous posts on Wang's Sina Weibo, he began scouting the museum as early as May 13. The museum denied that it had any knowledge of the shoot beforehand.

In an interview with guancha.com on Thursday, Wang said that taking photos at tourist attractions "is not something new" for him and that he feels his behavior hasn't affected anyone. He added that if people wish to take offense at his work then so be it. 

Wang is a graduate from the Central Academy of Drama and received further education in the US. In addition to the recent controversial nude photos in the Forbidden City, he has also photographed nude models in the streets of Hong Kong and at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

Global Times