Italian police fine tourists €450 for carving names into Trevi Fountain
The Local Italy - [email protected]
Published: 20 Aug, 2020 CET.
Updated: Thu 20 Aug 2020 09:02 CET
In the latest reported incident of unruly tourist behaviour in Italy, two visitors were fined after being caught in the act of vandalising Rome's Trevi Fountain.
Police stopped the pair, aged 61 and 44, as they attempted to carve their names onto a pillar in front of the world-famous monument.
Officers patrolling the attraction - which is frequently the target of vandalism - noticed the two behaving "suspiciously", before seeing them produce a coin and begin scratching at the pillar.
The two visitors, from Germany and Slovakia, were fined for damaging a building of historical and cultural interest.
They were each slapped with a fine of €450 and a 'daspo', a temporary ban from the area.
Rome mayor Virginia Raggi praised the police for their work, tweeting: "No tolerance for those who deface or damage the monuments of Rome."
Grazie a @PLRomaCapitale per aver fermato due turisti che tentavano di incidere i propri nomi sulla Fontana di Trevi. Per loro denuncia, multa e 'Daspo' previsto da nostro nuovo Regolamento Polizia Urbana. Nessuna tolleranza per chi deturpa o danneggia i monumenti di Roma.
— Virginia Raggi (@virginiaraggi) August 19, 2020
This was just the latest in a long line of incidents of vandalism by tourists at the Trevi Fountain and at other historic sites around Rome, and across Italy.
Police are currently trying to track down a visitor to the Pompeii archaeological site who climbed onto the roof of the baths to take a selfie over the weekend. Visitors are not allowed to touch monuments at the site, which has long suffered problems with vandalism and theft of artefacts.
And last week, Italian police tracked down an Austrian tourist who was caught on camera snapping three toes off a statue as he posed for a photo at a museum in northern Italy.
The country's monuments are so frequently defaced that heavily-touristed cities such as Rome, Florence and Venice have brought in various local laws aimed at clamping down on the practice, with heavy fines and temporary bans for those breaking the rules.
READ ALSO:
Cities have also introduced measures intened to prevent unruly or annoying behaviour from visitors, including rules against everything from "slovenly eating" to pulling wheeled suitcases,.
Mayor Raggi last summer warned visitors to Rome that the city's fountains are "not swimming pools" as people are regularly caught taking a dip in hot weather.
Comments (3)
See Also
Police stopped the pair, aged 61 and 44, as they attempted to carve their names onto a pillar in front of the world-famous monument.
Officers patrolling the attraction - which is frequently the target of vandalism - noticed the two behaving "suspiciously", before seeing them produce a coin and begin scratching at the pillar.
The two visitors, from Germany and Slovakia, were fined for damaging a building of historical and cultural interest.
They were each slapped with a fine of €450 and a 'daspo', a temporary ban from the area.
Rome mayor Virginia Raggi praised the police for their work, tweeting: "No tolerance for those who deface or damage the monuments of Rome."
Grazie a @PLRomaCapitale per aver fermato due turisti che tentavano di incidere i propri nomi sulla Fontana di Trevi. Per loro denuncia, multa e 'Daspo' previsto da nostro nuovo Regolamento Polizia Urbana. Nessuna tolleranza per chi deturpa o danneggia i monumenti di Roma.
— Virginia Raggi (@virginiaraggi) August 19, 2020
This was just the latest in a long line of incidents of vandalism by tourists at the Trevi Fountain and at other historic sites around Rome, and across Italy.
Police are currently trying to track down a visitor to the Pompeii archaeological site who climbed onto the roof of the baths to take a selfie over the weekend. Visitors are not allowed to touch monuments at the site, which has long suffered problems with vandalism and theft of artefacts.
And last week, Italian police tracked down an Austrian tourist who was caught on camera snapping three toes off a statue as he posed for a photo at a museum in northern Italy.
The country's monuments are so frequently defaced that heavily-touristed cities such as Rome, Florence and Venice have brought in various local laws aimed at clamping down on the practice, with heavy fines and temporary bans for those breaking the rules.
READ ALSO:
Cities have also introduced measures intened to prevent unruly or annoying behaviour from visitors, including rules against everything from "slovenly eating" to pulling wheeled suitcases,.
Mayor Raggi last summer warned visitors to Rome that the city's fountains are "not swimming pools" as people are regularly caught taking a dip in hot weather.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.