VATICAN CITY A man visiting St. Peter's Basilica on Thursday stripped off his clothes and stood naked on the church's main altar in what appeared to be a protest against the war in Ukraine, a Vatican source said.

The man had an inscription painted on his back calling for the children of Ukraine to be saved. The source said the man also had self-inflicted cuts on his body from his fingernails.

Vatican guards handed the man, who was not identified, over to Italian police, the source said. The episode occurred just before the basilica closed on Thursday afternoon.

Several Italian media websites ran photos of the incident taken by tourists.

(This story has been refiled to correct the day of the week from Friday to Thursday in paragraphs 1 and 3)

(Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Bill Berkrot)