Herculaneum, like Pompeii, was covered in volcanic ash from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD
Tourist filmed carving name on wall at Rome’s ancient Colosseum
Italy’s culture minister called the incident a ‘serious, unworthy and a sign of great incivility.’
A young man from the Netherlands was reprimanded by Italian police after he allegedly vandalized a historic Roman wall while on holiday.
The incident took place in Herculaneum, an Ancient Roman town that – like Pompeii – was covered in volcanic ash from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
In a press release published Monday, the Carabinieri, an Italian law enforcement agency, explained that the tourist "signed" the walls of a domus in the town on Sunday night. A domus was a townhouse-like residence for families in antiquity.
The 27-year-old was touring southern Italy on vacation at the time.
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A 27-year-old Dutch man was arrested for allegedly vandalizing an Ancient Roman wall. (Getty Images / Carabinieri)
"A 27-year-old Dutchman, on holiday in Campania, decided to leave a sign of his passage, writing with a marker on the ancient stuccoes of a house torn from the ashes of Vesuvius," the police's statement read. "A signature, with a black marker, [was] indelible."
"The man was immediately identified and reported for damage and smearing of artistic works."
Italian Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano said on Facebook that the suspect was punished for "damaging and [the] oxidation of [the] artwork."
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The Dutch tourist was on vacation in Italy when he vandalized the ancient wall, police say. (Carabinieri/Handout via REUTERS)
"Any damage hurts our heritage, our beauty and our identity and that is why it must be punished with the utmost firmness," Sangiuliano said in a statement obtained by Reuters.
This incident is not the first time a tourist in Italy was tempted to leave their mark. Last summer, a British tourist apologized for defacing the Colosseum in Rome.
Ivan Danailov Dimitrov, who was then 31, carved a wall with his name and his fiancée's name, writing: "Ivan+Haley 23."
"I admit with deepest embarrassment that it was only after what regrettably happened that I learned of the monument’s antiquity," a letter he wrote read. "[I apologize to] Italians and the entire world for the damage done to a monument, which is, in fact, heritage of all humanity."
A general view shows the archaeological site of Herculaneum in Ercolano, near Naples, with the Mount Vesuvius volcano in the background, on October 23, 2019. (Getty Images)
Fox News Digital reached out to the Carabinieri for additional details.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Andrea Vacchiano is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. You can follow her on X at @andrea_vacch or send story tips to
