Outcry in Rome: Tourist engraves his name and that of his girlfriend on the Colosseum, Roman police are looking for him (VIDEO)

But it seems that the Colosseum is sometimes a victim of its own success. On social networks, a video dated Friday, June 23 has gone viral. We see an English-speaking tourist carving his name and that of his girlfriend on the walls of the Colosseum. Using a key, the young man engraved “Ivan + Hayley 23”. While the author of the video, another tourist, challenges him by asking him “Are you serious, man?” (“Are you serious, dude?”), the engraver turns around with a broad smile, obviously not realizing that he is degrading one of the major monuments of Roman antiquity.

Italian Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano shared the video on Twitter and called the act “very serious” and “unworthy” and regretted a “sign of great incivility that a tourist disfigures one of the most famous in the world, the Colosseum, to engrave the name of his fiancée on it”. He adds that sanctions will be taken against this tourist and hopes that he will be quickly identified.

The spokesperson for the carabinieri of Rome, the military force that provides policing and law enforcement, said: “We have been informed of this incident and are seeking to identify the culprit and when he is arrested he will will be punished”. The authority of the Colosseum Archaeological Park filed a complaint on June 25. The tourist is therefore actively sought after and should not get off so easily.

A man was filmed carving “Ivan + Hayley 23” on a wall in the Colosseum, Rome. ©DR

Unfortunately, this is not the first time that such an act of vandalism has occurred at the Colosseum. Alfonsina Russo, the director of the Colosseum, explains to our colleagues from the Daily Mail : “When you have badly educated people in the Colosseum, this kind of vandalism happens and I hope there will be no imitators”.

In 2015, two Californian tourists aged 21 and 25 engraved their initials with a coin on the Colosseum before taking a selfie.

In 2014, a 42-year-old Russian tourist was caught red-handed carving his initial with a sharp stone.

Italian justice had sentenced him to a fine of 20,000 euros and a four-month suspended prison sentence. In 2014, a father and son from Australia were caught when the son carved his name on the wall of the Colosseum while his father stood watch.