I hate tourists that damage the buildings or the natural environment. Its a massive bugbear of mine.
The question is how much do we want these people to be punished? It seems Italy is getting tough.
This week, one such vandal was fined $US25 000 for attempting to carve his initials into the Colosseum. This AD70 amphitheatre built during the Roman Empire stands 48.5 metres high and welcomes over six million visitors a year. I have visited it twice and it still inspires me.
The 42-year-old Russian tourist had used a stone to carve the letter “K” into the surface of a wall inside the amphitheatre. He was caught carving the 25cm (10 inch) letter by a guard who handed him over to the police. Rossella Rea, the director of the Colosseum, said “You cannot write on a historic wall, it’s absolutely forbidden,”
Sadly five vandals have been caught damaging the Colosseum this year. Apart from the Russian,there were:
- a 45 year old Australian man and his 12 year old son in January tried to write their names on a wall
- a Canadian 15 year old attempted to smuggle an ancient brick from the site in her backpack in March
- a Brazilian teenager was charged with carving his name
Stupid behaviours deserve huge fines. Yes?
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Ignorance and lack of respect for anything but their own personal desires. Sadly, it seems this type of ‘ME’ behavior is becoming more commonplace. I really hope something gets put in motion to stop this culture of the ‘selfie’ mentality and that there is a shift in terms of the recent emphasis on individual wants.
Two of them in their 40’s pulling this kind of stuff? From teens, I can expect such things. But 2 grown men, one with a child? Honestly!
25K USD is not enough. Higher fines to pay for more security plus deportation should be considered.