Oh, I remember hearing about this story long ago. It isn't just that they hadn't ever seen a monkey before, they obviously had no idea what Frenchmen looked like, either.

And I'm not sure why such a tourist attraction wouldn't have a plaque for visitors to read about as to why it's there in the first place. I mean, think of future archaeologists who might mistake the monkey for some kind of idol or something .. :P (And it would just seem to be SOP and common sense.)