An American tourist visiting the Colosseum saw no difference between the almost 2,000-year-old travertine walls and a school planner, and he didn’t hesitate for a second to engrave his name and that of his girlfriend on one of the walls of the Flavian Amphitheater. . “Ivan Haley 23”, he wrote, before his partner, with the use of a key, last Friday on one of the walls of one of the wonders of the world.
The act was recorded by another US tourist, Californian Ryan Lutz, who filmed what happened and posted the video on YouTube and Reddit. The publication was later distributed by the Italian media, and now the authorities are trying to take advantage of this graphic documentation to identify the guilty couple and punish them with an exemplary fine to prevent other visitors from wanting to show their love at the cost of sullying Italian cultural property. . The Archaeological Park of the Colosseum has already filed a complaint and the police are looking for them for deteriorating cultural heritage and violating the regulations of the urban police. According to the Ansa agency, they may face a fine of up to 15,000 euros, up to five years in jail and a ban on entering the Coliseum.
Lutz, a backpacker on a two-month trip to Europe, told the AP that he had just finished a guided tour when he saw the person “blamelessly writing his name” on the wall of the Colosseum. “As you can see in the video, I approach him and ask him, perplexed: ‘Are you serious? Are you really serious?’” he recalled. “All he could do was smile at me.” According to Lutz, he tried to warn a guard and his supervisor, but they stood idly by, although he pointed out the perpetrator of the act and showed them the video. He decided to post it the next day on social media. “Carving your name seems like a selfish act to me,” he opined.
The Minister of Culture, Gennaro Sangiuliano, considered “very serious, unworthy and a sign of great incivility that a tourist defaces one of the most famous places in the world, a historical heritage, to record the name of his girlfriend.” Sangiuliano has already toughened the penalties against climate activists who vandalize cultural heritage, be they works of art or monuments, which now range from 20,000 to 60,000 euros, in addition to carrying criminal penalties, to cover the high costs of cleaning. “It is a very serious act. I think there is a lack of education on respect for memory, which is then self-respect. We are in a Unesco site, a world heritage site. We are doing everything possible to locate the author,” lamented the director of the Colosseum, Alfonsina Russo. “It is truly an uncivil and senseless gesture,” agreed the mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri. Keying in the Colosseum, a symbol of Rome and a World Heritage Site. We strongly condemn this barbaric behavior, which offends the entire city and the entire world. I hope that the person responsible is punished as he deserves.”
There are now nine people denounced since last August for having vandalized the Flavio Amphitheater by writing or sculpting words. Last summer, security guards at the Coliseum found a Canadian tourist writing her name with a stone, but then guards quickly alerted the police. In 2014, a Russian tourist was fined 20,000 euros and sentenced to four years in jail – which he never stepped foot in – for drawing a huge letter K on one of the walls of the amphitheatre. Two days ago, a 32-year-old Argentinean flew a drone inside the archaeological area, something prohibited. The police officers identified him and he was denounced for violating the prohibition to fly over the area.
