A tourist has been filmed carving his fiance’s name into The Colosseum in Rome.
In the video, posted to Twitter by Italian culture minister Gennaro Sangiuliano, a man can be seen writing something on the 1,937-year-old monument with what looks like keys.
The man appears to write a name with the number 23 next to it.
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“I consider it very serious, unworthy and a sign of great incivility that a tourist defaces one of the most famous places in the world, The Colosseum, to engrave the name of his fiance,” Sangiuliano wrote alongside the video.
“I hope that whoever did this will be identified and sanctioned according to our laws.”
The video, which has been viewed over 50,000 times, sparked outrage on social media, with many calling out the tourist’s behaviour.
“A moron, like the ‘activists’ who deface monuments and fountains to save the environment,” one person wrote.
“Find him and arrest him,” another wrote.
Built in 80AD and considered one of the seven wonders of the modern world, The Colosseum is a World Heritage Site.
In April this year, the Italian government approved proposed legislation championed by Sangiuliano that would impose fines starting at 10,000 euros ($A16,285) and as high as 60,000 euros (about $A97,000).
Sangiuliano said it had cost the government 40,000 euros ($A65,143) to clean the façade of the 15th-century Palazzo Madama, which is home to the Italian Senate, after it was vandalised earlier this year.
“Whoever carries out these acts must assume also the financial responsibility,” he said at the time.
– With AP
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