Outrage Erupts as Tourist Vandalizes Iconic Ancient Building in Rome

After a video of a tourist carving his name in the Colosseum with a key surfaced online, he has stirred anger.

A tourist was caught in the act carving a message on the walls of Rome's Colosseum.

Reddit posted video footage of the crime, which showed the man wearing a blue shirt and shorts writing 'Haley" into the building that is 1,937 years old.

A woman is watching the man defacing the Colosseum as he was being filmed by a tourist.

The vandal smiles and turns to the camera as he continues etching the stone.

Outraged viewers demanded that the video be sent to police to arrest the man who was called an "a**hole" by the commenters.

One commentator stated that they saw the man in question on the day. "I was there, and I saw it too." The guy didn't think he did anything wrong.

One comment said: "Rome, and indeed most Italian cities that I visited, are covered in graffiti." It seems that the graffiti artists leave the historical stuff to themselves.

It is not the first incident where a tourist was caught carving into the monument. Vandals in the past have been fined up to PS16,000.

A security guard in 2014 caught a 42 year old Russian tourist carving into a wall a 25cm "K". He was fined PS15,800.

Guards reported an Irish tourist to police in 2020 for allegedly carving his initials on the building.

Rossella Rea believes the high fines for damage to "a magnificent, symbolic monument" are justified.

"You cannot write on a historic wall, it's absolutely forbidden," she stated.

Rome Colosseum, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, is still the largest amphitheatre in the world.

It was once a gathering place where ancient Romans gathered to watch gladiatorial battles and animal hunts.

The graffiti in the Colosseum is from Roman times, after gladiators' drawings were discovered during restoration works in 2013.

A passageway was also reconstructed, revealing a number names that visitors had drawn in the 1940s.

Archaeologists are hoping that the high fines will deter visitors from damaging the structure and demonstrate the lack of tolerance towards criminal damage.

Source: gbnews.com