Tourist carves girlfriend's name on Rome's Colosseum using keys in viral video, draws flak

A tourist in Italy has drawn heavy criticism after he was caught carving his girlfriend’s name into a wall of the Colosseum. The act, which took place last week, was caught on camera — and the video quickly went viral on social media.

The video shows a person carrying a backpack and wearing a blue T-shirt and shorts as he writes “Ivan + Hayley 23” on the wall of the 1937-year-old Colosseum using keys.

Reacting to the incident, Italy’s culture minister, Gennaro Sangiuliano, called the act a “sign of incivility” and said that he hopes the tourist gets “identified and sanctioned”.

“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 fiancée. I hope that whoever did this will be identified and sanctioned according to our laws,” the minister tweeted.

The tourist could be slapped with a fine of at least $16,360 (Dh60090) or up to five years of imprisonment, reported the Italian news agency ANSA.

According to the Orange County Register newspaper, the person who filmed the vandalism at Colosseum was identified as Ryan Lutz. He said that he was appalled to see the ancient amphitheatre being defaced and decided to pull out his phone to record.

Ryan Lutz told the newspaper that he was irked when the tourist smiled after carving his girlfriend’s name into the wall. “No shame, whatsoever. After that, I think, ‘OK, I have to notify someone,’” Lutz said.

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