A tourist defaced a wall in an ancient Roman house which has survived Mount Vesuvius 's eruption in 79AD. Italian police said the man, 27, was identified after staff at Herculaneum, near Naples , came across the graffiti. The marks were made using a marker pen with black, indelible ink on a section of wall painted white.
According to the police, the markings are the man's graffiti signature, or tag. In a statement, Italy's Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano said: "Any damage hurts our heritage, our beauty and our identity and that is why it must be punished with the utmost firmness." The unnamed Dutchman now faces charges of damage to and defacement of artistic works, according to the Reuters news agency.
Italian authorities toughened up penalties on people who damage the country's monuments and cultural sites, with fines of up to £34,000 (40,000 euros) for those found guilty. Previously, fines were up to £12,770 (15,000 euros). That move came after a series of climate protests which saw activists defacing monuments including the Trevi Fountain in Rome , La Scala opera house in Milan and Florence's Palazzo Vecchio.
Mr Sangiuliano welcomed the move made, saying in January: "Today is a beautiful day for Italian culture, and in particular for the artistic and architectural heritage of the nation." A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Herculaneum was buried under 16 meters of ash and mud when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79AD. The layers preserved homes and their interiors intact.
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