Hunt for tourist who carved name in Colosseum intensifies

Italy’s Culture and Tourism Ministers have vowed to find and punish a tourist who was filmed carving his name and that of his apparent girlfriend in the wall of the Colosseum in Rome, a crime that resulted in hefty fines in the past.

The incident was captured by a fellow tourist, Ryan Lutz, from Orange City, California, who filmed the tourist in the act sketching “Ivan+Haley 23” on the wall and posted the video on YouTube and Reddit.

The video received over 1,500 social media views and was picked up by Italian media. Lutz said on Tuesday that he was “dumbfounded” that someone would deface such an important monument.

Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano called the writing carved into the almost 2,000-year-old Flavian Amphitheatre “serious, undignified and a sign of great incivility.” He said he hoped the culprits would be found “and punished according to our laws.”

Italian news agency ANSA noted that the incident marked the fourth time this year that such graffiti was reported at the Colosseum. It said whoever was responsible for the latest episode risked €13,000 in fines and up to five years in prison.

Tourism Minister Daniela Santanche said she hoped the tourist would be sanctioned “so that he understands the gravity of the gesture.” Calling for respect for Italy’s culture and history, she vowed: “We cannot allow those who visit our nation to feel free to behave in this way.”

In 2014, a Russian tourist was fined €20,000 and received a four-year suspended jail sentence for engraving a big letter ‘K’ on a wall of the Colosseum.

The following year, two American tourists were also cited for aggravated damage after they carved their names in the monument.

Watch the video above to see what happened.