THE CONSERVATOR’S RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE DETERIORATION OF MONUMENTS

Over the last decades, built heritage and the conditions of its protection have changed a lot. There has been a significant increase in the number and diversity of monuments. The expectations of contemporary societies regarding the use of heritage have changed as well. As a consequence, the ownership, protection, financing and use of heritage has been privatized. These conditions should be reflected in conservation theory. Conservation theory should be realistic - it should indicate how to protect and use heritage in practice. Therefore, it is necessary to scientifically develop a modern conservation theory. The application of conservation theory which does not take into account contemporary conditions contributes to chaos in the protection of monuments and facilitates the destruction of their values. Therefore, the development of contemporary conservation theory can also be considered an ethical problem.