Rome: tourist wanted by Italian police for vandalizing the Colosseum

It was the wrong place to record his romance - and the wrong time, too. The manhunt has been declared in Italy, after the broadcast of a viral video which shows a tourist engraving his first name and that of his girlfriend on a wall of the Colosseum, in Rome. An almost perky scene showing the artist at work, turnkey - but above all an act of vandalism. This risks costing him a fine of 15,000 euros and up to five years in prison, recalled the Italian press agency Ansa.

The video scandalized the Italian Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano who on Monday crushed this “serious, unworthy act which testifies to great incivility vis-à-vis one of the most famous historical sites in the world”. The Colosseum Archaeological Park, responsible for the monument, filed a complaint on Sunday. Since then, the Italian police are looking for the author of the engraving. The individual, whose face is clearly visible in the full video, had left 'Ivan Haley 23' on the walls of the Colosseum. Two names that can guide the inspectors.

Asked by the American press agency Associated Press, the witness of the scene - Ryan Lutz, a Californian tourist at the origin of the viral video - said that he had tried in vain to dissuade the couple from attacking the Roman monument. . "To engrave his name in this way is a damn selfish thing," he said, regretting the "grossly disrespectful" gesture of the individual filmed. "I hope that this person who degraded the Flavian amphitheater will be identified and punished in accordance with our laws," added Gennaro Sangiuliano. Three other such damages have been seen at the Colosseum since the start of the year, as this year's tourist season is on course to break all records.