Outrage over calls to find and arrest a tourist who was photographed carving his name on an ancient wall at the Colosseum
A tourist has sparked outrage after he was photographed using a set of keys to inscribe on the ancient walls of the Colosseum.
A fellow tourist was outraged to see the devastation and decided to capture the scene on camera. In a short clip shared on Reddit, the photographer walks up to tourists engrossed in the etchings.
They can be heard asking him “Are you serious, man?” The vandals, however, seemed unperturbed, turning to the camera and smiling before returning to finish carving the more than 1,900-year-old landmark.
While it’s unclear exactly what the man carved, it’s thought he may have carved his own and his girlfriend’s names.
People were outraged by the act and lashed out at the unnamed man in a Reddit post titled “A tourist carved his and his girlfriend’s names on the Colosseum wall”, The video itself has more than 16,000 views.
When one angry poster said they wanted the man in the video to face punishment, the person behind the clip wrote: “I reported this to staff but sadly they don’t seem to care too much. They showed the video and pointed to the person and they said they told the police but didn’t seem to want the video. I left and didn’t figure out what happened.”
“People like this should have their passports revoked,” wrote one outraged person.
Another added: “How can a person be so ignorant?”
The person who shared the video said they told staff but they “didn’t seem to care too much”.
A tourist who claimed to have witnessed the scene added: “I was there and saw it. The guy didn’t even think he did anything wrong.”
If authorities do choose to locate the man and press charges, he could face a hefty fine.
Back in 2014, a tourist was fined €20,000 (£17,000) for allegedly carving his initials on the walls of the Colosseum.
A year later, in a separate incident, two women were arrested in Rome for allegedly carving their initials on the wall of the Colosseum and taking a selfie.
The women are accused of using a coin to inscribe the letters J and N on the historic site. Police charged them with “serious damage to a building of historical and artistic value”.
Some resorts have been trying to crack down on unruly tourists in recent years.
Bali recently announced it would produce a guidebook for tourists after a series of incidents of people crossing the border.
In February, a tourist sparked outrage at the crescent moon atop the holy Mount Agung, shocking locals in the process.
The man, who did not want to be named, took off his trousers and posed for pictures on the awe-inspiring rocky outcrop.
Last year, a video of Canadian actor Geoffrey Douglas Cregan dancing naked on Mount Batur sparked outrage when it went viral.
The following month, a yoga influencer posed nude in front of a 700-year-old sacred tree in Bali, only to end up in hot water.
