The names of a visitor who was seen on camera carving his name and the name of his girlfreind into the Colosseum wall in Rome have been identified, and the culture and tourism ministers of Italy have vowed to punish him. Similar offences have in the past carried hefty fines.
Social media users shared a video of the incident widely. At a time when locals were already grumbling about the record-breaking number of tourists entering the Eternal City this season, a message saying “Ivan+Haley 23” suddenly appeared on the Colosseum.
Gennaro Sangiuliano, the culture minister, referred to the text etched into the nearly 2,000-year-old Flavian Ampitheater as “serious, undignified, and a sign of great incivility.” He wished that the offenders would be apprehended “and punished in accordance with our laws.”
