A 37-year-old British tourist could be charged with damage of artistic heritage after he carved the date 07/08/24 and the initials of his name and that of his daughters into the wall of the House of the Vestals, in the Pompeii archeological park, on Wednesday, media reports said.
Pompeii security staff were responsible for reporting the man to local police authorities, who then proceeded to question him and file the case with the public prosecutor’s office in Torre Annunziata, Campania.
Reports of people writing or carving their names into ancient walls, and even stealing bricks, stones and other pieces of Italy’s monuments, are a regular occurrence every summer, along with frequent reports of tourists swimming in fountains and climbing on statues.
But despite the outrage usually following these incidents, vandalism of Italy’s historic and cultural monuments has continued unabated for years, albeit not for lack of laws.
Italy’s government in January increased the potential maximum fine for anyone found guilty of causing damage to a site of historical and artistic interest from €15,000 to €40,000, or up to €60,000 for anyone damaging or destroying cultural property.
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Anyone found guilty could also potentially be handed a prison sentence of up to five years, the law states.
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Would like to see these people serve time in an Italian jail for this sort of damage. Fines are fairly impersonal method of exacting behavior changes. A few weeks behind bars might serve up lessons of consequences more effectively. Or perhaps time served could be spent cleaning bathrooms of monument that was defaced.