A Dutch tourist has been arrested and charged with vandalism after he was caught carving his name into an ancient Roman building near Pompeii. The unnamed 27-year-old was detained after staff discovered graffiti on a frescoed wall in an ancient Roman villa in Herculaneum on Monday. Police later said the graffiti, which had been made in black permanent marker, matched the Dutch tourist’s signature.
Herculaneum, an ancient Roman seaside town near Naples, was also buried alongside its more famous neighbour Pompeii by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. The tourist now faces charges of damage and defacement of artistic works, the Independent reports. ‘Any damage hurts our heritage, our beauty and our identity and that is why it must be punished with the utmost firmness, Italian Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano said in a statement.
The incident occurred on Sunday at the UNESCO World Heritage Site, which saw Italy’s state-run museums and archaeological sites open for free to the public to celebrate the Festa della Repubblica national holiday. It comes as Italian officials seek to crack down on desecration of their cultural heritage sites following a spate of graffiti-related incidents at historical landmarks in recent years. In 2023, a 27-year-old Bulgarian fitness instructor living in the UK, was tracked down by Italian police after he was caught carving ‘Ivan + Hayley 23’ into the walls of the Colosseum in Rome.
After being informed he faced a €15,000 fine or.