Italy

Tourist caught vandalizing Roman Colosseum for second time in less than a month

A Swiss teenager was recorded while etching an initial into the wall of the landmark

NBC Universal, Inc.

For the second time in less than a month, a tourist has been caught on video while vandalizing the Colosseum in Rome, Italy.

Italian tour guide David Battaglino recorded the tourist as she began to etch the letter “N” into a Colosseum wall on Friday. Battaglino reported the incident to site security, who then reported it to the Carabinieri of the Province of Rome, a division of Italy’s military police.

Authorities identified the tourist as a 17-year-old girl from Switzerland.

“It is the first time I have managed to film an act of vandalism at the Colosseum, but in six years, I have seen dozens,” he told Italian publication la Repubblica. “There are also those who rip off parts of the wall.”

Battaglino told the teenager’s parents what she had done, and the parents told him, “She’s just a little girl, she wasn’t doing anything wrong,” according to la Repubblica.

On June 23, a British man was caught carving “Ivan+Hayley 23” into the Colosseum. He was later identified and wrote an apology letter expressing his “deepest embarrassment.” 

Vandalizing the Colosseum carries fines that could approach $17,000 and up to five years in prison.

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