Strange reaction as Swiss teen busted carving name on Colosseum

A teenage girl was busted carving her name into the Colosseum in Rome. The reaction from her parents was strange to say the least.

An Italian tour guide filmed the 17-year-old and alerted security. Picture: Agenzia ANSA

Just weeks after a British tourist was blasted for carving his initials into the walls of the Colosseum, a teenage girl has allegedly done the same thing.

The 17-year-old from Switzerland was visiting Rome with her family when she reportedly carved the letter ‘N’ into one of the brick columns of the almost 2,000-year-old amphitheatre,

Italian tour guide David Battaglino who filmed the illegal act on Friday quickly alerted security at the amphitheatre.

“It is the first time I have managed to film an act of vandalism at the Colosseum but in six years I have seen dozens, there are also those who rip off parts of the wall,” he told Italian publication Repubblica Roma.

“They even spat on me once for scolding a boy.”

Mr Battaglino was in the middle of a tour when a member of his group alerted him to the young girl’s alleged vandalism.

“I kept talking to the group and with my cell phone I filmed the girl and after a few seconds my group applauded me,” he told the publication.

A teenage girl was allegedly filmed carving her initials into one of the brick columns of the Colosseum. Picture: Agenzia ANSA

He then approached the girl’s parents telling them what their daughter had done was illegal, but they allegedly blew him off with a “gesture of annoyance”.

When confronted, the parents reportedly said: “She’s just a little girl, she wasn’t doing anything wrong.”

Mr Battaglino told nearby security who then contacted police.

Italian police have now launched an investigation into the alleged incident.

According to local media, the girl and her parents were then taken to the police headquarters in Rome’s Piazza Venezia for questioning.

An Italian tour guide filmed the 17-year-old and alerted security. Picture: Agenzia ANSA

Those who commit such an act can cop a $A25,000 fine or two to five years in prison.

The clip has since gone viral with many baffled by the disrespect towards historical monuments.

“I don’t understand what pleasure they take in writing their names on monuments,” one person wrote on Twitter.

“Why is the world full of idiots?” said another.

Others hit back saying instead of filming, the tour guide could have kindly asked her to stop.

Meanwhile, a British tourist also recently went viral for committing a similar act.

It comes weeks after a British tourist was filmed doing the same thing. Picture: YouTube

He issued a grovelling apology to the mayor of Rome over the act. Picture: YouTube

Ivan Dimitrov, a 27-year-old Bulgarian-born fitness trainer living in Bristol, England, claimed he did not know how ancient the 80AD landmark was until after he defaced it offered a grovelling apology to Rome mayor Roberto Gualtieri, begging forgiveness after reportedly using a key to etch “Ivan + Hayley 23” into the 2000-year-old UNESCO World Heritage site last month.

He claimed he did not know what the ancient the 80AD landmark was until after he defaced it.

“It is with deep embarrassment that only after what regrettably happened did I learn of the antiquity of the monument,” Mr Dimitrov confessed.

He claimed he did not know what the ancient landmark was until after he defaced. Picture: Stock

He was identified by Italian police as the culprit behind the vandalism after a five-day search.

In the letter he claimed that only now did he realise “the seriousness of the deed committed”.

“Through these lines I would like to address my heartfelt and honest apologies to the Italians and to the whole world for the damage caused to an asset which, in fact, is the heritage of all humanity,” Mr Dimitrov said.

The video was also taken by a tour guide, Ryan Lutz, of Orange, California.

He said he’d just finished a guided tour of the Colosseum when he spotted the tourist “blatantly carving his name” into the wall.

Mr Dimitrov was seen in a viral video wearing a blue flowery shirt and gleefully carving up an internal wall of the Roman stone amphitheatre completed by Emperor Titus in 80AD.

“And as you see in the video, I kind of approach him and ask him, dumbfounded at this point, ‘Are you serious? Are you really serious?’” Mr Lutz said. “And all he could do is like smile at me.”

Italian Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano described the act as “offensive to everyone around the world who appreciates the value of archaeology, monuments and history”.

– with The Sun