Outrage as tourist defaces 2,000-year-old ancient Roman house
A Dutch tourist faces charges after a wall at an ancient house in Herculaneum was daubed with graffiti.
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.
The city was named after the mythical Greek God Hercules, who according to legend founded Herculaneum in 1,243BC.
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Analysis suggests the city was actually built by the Oscans or Etruscans in the 7th Century BC, before it was conquered by the Samnites in the 5th Century BC. By 90BC, the city was dominated by the Romans, whose elite favoured it as a resort town.
Work on rebuilding the city after an earthquake in 62AD was still underway when Vesuvius blew up 17 years later, with toxic gas clouds wiping out Herculaneum's inhabitants.
The ruins were uncovered by accident in 1707 while a well was being dug and marble fragments and statues were unearthed.
Since then an ancient Greek port, Temple of Venus, Villa of the Papyrus and baths have been uncovered.
