Why is the pope’s Fisherman’s Ring damaged or destroyed after a papacy ends?

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Cardinals of the Catholic Church, dressed in red, sit at long tables in the Sistine Chapel during the 2005 papal election conclave, surrounded by ornate frescoed walls. — papal conclave Cardinals assembled inside the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican Palace for a conclave to elect a new pope; Vatican City, 2005.

The Fisherman’s Ring is destroyed or marked upon the end of a papacy to signify the formal conclusion of the deceased or resigned pope’s authority.1

This ritual, performed by the cardinal camerlengo, serves two primary purposes:

Symbolic End of Authority: It marks the definitive end of the pope's tenure and his role as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church.1
Security: Historically, the ring functioned as a signet ring used to seal official documents. Destroying or defacing it prevents the potential forgery of documents that could be falsely attributed to the former pope.1

While traditionally the ring was destroyed with a special hammer, the process was modified when Pope Benedict XVI resigned in 2013. In that instance, the cardinal camerlengo instead marked the ring with a deep cross using a chisel, rendering it unusable as a seal.1