The incident happened in Piazza Madonna Dei Monti, a stone's throw from the Roman Forum and the Colosseum, a popular meeting place for locals and tourists alike.

Dressed in nothing but their underwear, the six tourists, aged between 18 and 21, were filmed late at night as they danced and splashed about in the in the sixteenth-century fountain.

Within seconds, however, police are seen putting an end to their Dolce Vita-style bathing session, ordering them to get out of the fountain and put their clothes back on.

The six tourists were then fined €269 each.

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“Perhaps the young people didn’t even know the value of the monument which they treated like any old bathtub,” council member Marta Leonori was quoted as saying in Il Messaggero.

“Rome is an open-air museum and needs responsible and respectful tourism. That’s why we will never tire of appealing to the sense of responsibility and civility of those who visit our city.

“We don’t need tourism that damages and offends Rome and its monuments. Citizens and police are very active sentries in the defence of our artistic heritage,” she added.

Tourists are constantly hitting headlines for desecrating Rome’s heritage.

In August, two tourists got into hot water with Rome police after they were caught carving their names into a pillar of the Colosseum with a coin.

And in March a Canadian tourist even tried to steal a brick from the Colosseum by stashing it away in her backpack.