ROME (AP) — Italy’s Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano vowed Tuesday to find and punish a tourist filmed carving his and his girlfriend’s names on the wall of the Colosseum, an offense punishable by hefty fines.
The message “Ivan+Haley 23” appeared in the Colosseum when the Romans were already complaining about the hordes of tourists that invade the Eternal City this season. It was just another tourist, Ryan Litz, from Orange, California, who filmed the incident and posted the video on YouTube and Reddit.
The video went viral on social networks and was reproduced by the Italian press. Litz told The Associated Press that he was “shocked” that someone would mutilate such an important monument.
Sangiuliano said that engraving names in the 2,000-year-old Flavio Amphitheater was a “serious, unworthy and sign of a great lack of culture.” He expressed the hope that the culprits will be found and “punished in accordance with our laws.”
The ANSA news agency said it was the fourth time this year that an act of vandalism had been reported at the Coliseum, and that the person responsible faced a $15,000 fine and up to five years in prison.
The Minister of Tourism, Daniela Santanche, said that the tourist should receive a sanction “so that they understand the seriousness of the gesture.” She demanded respect for the culture and history of Italy and said that “we cannot allow those who wear our nation to feel free to act like this.”
Litz, who is on a two-month tour of Europe, said he had just taken a guided tour of the Colosseum on Friday when he saw a person “blatantly carving his name” on the wall. He told the AP that he took his phone to film the man.
Litz, a Cal Poly Pomona graduate, said he reported the incident to a guard, but neither the guard nor his superior took any action, though Litz identified the man and offered to give them a copy of the video.
