ROME — An Italian official is calling for the arrest of a tourist who was filmed carving his initials and those of his girlfriend into the wall of Rome’s Colosseum.
Gennaro Sangiuliano, Italy’s culture minister, called the man’s actions as “unworthy and a sign of great incivility,” SkyNews reported.
“I consider it 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 (site) such as the Colosseum, to carve the name of his fiancée,” Sangiuliano tweeted on Monday.
"I consider it very serious, unworthy and a sign of great incivility that a tourist defaces one of the most famous places in the world," said Italy's Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano. https://t.co/9CMhRdNhYc
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) June 26, 2023
The freestanding amphitheater is nearly 2,000 years old, dates to the Roman Empire and is considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The video, which was uploaded to YouTube, shows the tourist, scratching what appears to be “Ivan + Hayley 23″ into the wall of the historic site with a set of keys on Friday.
“Are you serious, man?” one person from behind the camera appeared to say to the man in the video.
According to The Orange County Register, Ryan Lutz, of Orange, California, is the man who shot the video of the tourist scratching his initials.
Lutz, reached by telephone in Athens on Monday, told the newspaper that graffiti “bugs the hell out of me,” especially at a historic site, so he decided to document the event.
He said the man smiled at him and continued to carve.
Viral video: Caught up with this tourist from Orange who filmed a guy etching his name into the ancient monument. Read what he had to say about it https://t.co/mHL80TrYVM
— laylan connelly (@ocbeaches) June 26, 2023
“No shame, whatsoever,” Lutz told the Register. “After that I think, ‘OK, I have to notify someone.’”
Lutz said he found a guard at the Colosseum’s exit to report the man and said he had proof on his phone, according to the newspaper. But the guard said he could not do anything because he did not witness the event in real-time.
Lutz then spoke with a supervisor, who assured him that authorities would follow up.
“It was kind of a bummer end for my trip to the Colosseum,” Lutz told the Register.
Italian news outlet ANSA reported that the man in the video has yet to be identified by authorities, CBS News reported.
ANSA reported that according to Italian law, if the man is arrested, he could face a fine of at least $16,360 and up to five years in prison, CNN reported.
