Italian police are on the hunt for a young tourist who carved his and his girlfriend’s names into a wall of the Colosseum, sparking widespread condemnation.
The English-speaking tourist was filmed by an onlooker using keys to engrave “Ivan+Hayley 23” into the wall of the 2,000-year-old Roman amphitheatre on Friday afternoon.
The clip, entitled “Asshole tourist carves name in Colosseum in Rome”, was uploaded on to YouTube before being widely shared across social media, eventually alerting police to the incident.
The culprit has not yet been officially identified, although there are strong suspicions that he is called Ivan.
If caught and convicted, the suspect faces hefty repercussions: a fine of at least €15,000 and a prison term of up to five years.
Italy’s culture minister, Gennaro Sangiuliano, shared the video on Twitter, describing the transgression as “very serious” and “a sign of great incivility that a tourist defaces one of the most famous places in the world, the Colosseum, to engrave the name of his fiancée”.
He added: “I hope that whoever did this will be identified and sanctioned according to our laws.”
Daniela Santanchè, the tourism minister, called for Italy’s culture and history to be respected. “We cannot allow those who visit our nation to feel free to behave in this way,” she said.
The man was also criticised by fellow tourists. “I understand that some of them want to leave their mark, but we believe that things should be preserved as they are,” one told La Presse, a news agency. Another said: “This behaviour really makes me angry.”
However, it is not the first time the Colosseum has been defaced.
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In September 2020, a 32-year-old man from Ireland was allegedly caught using a metal point to carve his initials into a pillar on the first level of the monument. He was arrested and charged with damaging a historical landmark.
A German girl of 14 was allegedly caught doing the same thing a month later.
Alfonsina Russo, the director of the Colosseum, said there appeared to be a “lack of education” among people who commit such acts. “Anyone who writes on monuments has obviously not been educated about our cultural heritage.”
