 In the past , some visitors would write their names on the Wall , or based upon various scriptural verses , would drive nails into the crevices . These practices stopped after rabbis determined that such actions compromised the sanctity of the Wall . Another practice also existed whereby pilgrims or those intending to travel abroad would hack off a chip from the Wall or take some of the sand from between its cracks as a good luck charm or memento . In the late 19th century the question was raised as to whether this was permitted and a long responsa appeared in the Jerusalem newspaper <unk> in 1898 . It concluded that even if according to Jewish Law it was permitted , the practices should be stopped as it constituted a desecration . More recently the <unk> Yosef rules that it is forbidden to remove small chips of stone or dust from the Wall , although it is permissible to take twigs from the vegetation which grows in the Wall for an amulet , as they contain no holiness . Cleaning the stones is also problematic from a <unk> point of view . <unk> graffiti once sprayed by a tourist was left visible for months until it began to peel away . 
