Man Who Left His Signature on Roman Ruins... What Is the Fine?

Dutch Man Leaves Graffiti at Archaeological Site in Southern Italy

A tourist who scribbled with a magic pen on ancient Roman ruins in southern Italy was arrested by the police. The Italian government strengthened related penalties this year. If convicted of damaging the ruins, the defendant can be fined up to 10,000 euros (60 million won).

Damaged Herculaneum Ruins
[Photo by Reuters Yonhap News Archive]

According to Yonhap News quoting foreign media on the 4th, Italian police arrested a 27-year-old Dutch man, A, last night on charges of damaging frescoes (paintings made by applying pigment on wet lime plaster) in an ancient Roman house in Herculaneum near Naples in southern Italy.

A was traveling in southern Italy on vacation. While looking at the frescoes, he drew graffiti with a black magic pen. The magic pen is known to be indelible.

The graffiti was discovered by an employee working at the site at the time. He immediately reported it to the authorities, and the suspect was charged with damaging an artwork. The police investigation revealed that the graffiti was A’s signature.

After the incident became known, Gennaro Sanjuliano, Italy’s Minister of Culture, issued a statement saying, “All damage harms our heritage, beauty, and identity,” adding, “This is why it must be punished as strictly as possible.”

A photo taken and provided on the 23rd (local time) by the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. The phrase 'DKS 1860' was scribbled on seven columns of the Vasari Corridor.
[Photo by AP Yonhap News]

Italy, which has so many artifacts and ruins that it is said the entire country is a cultural asset, is strongly responding by imposing restoration costs as fines on those who damage cultural properties.

In August last year, there was also an incident where a man in his 20s from Germany sprayed graffiti on the Vasari Corridor, a representative building in Florence, Italy. At that time, two German men in their 20s left graffiti reading “DKS 1860” in black spray paint on seven pillars of the Vasari Corridor. The damaged Vasari Corridor is an approximately 1 km elevated passage connecting the Uffizi Gallery, the Ponte Vecchio, and the Pitti Palace across the Arno River, along which hundreds of Renaissance artworks are displayed.

The Italian government billed them for the restoration costs. Ike Schmidt, director of the Uffizi Gallery, said at the time, “It is expected to cost about 10,000 euros (about 14 million won) to remove the graffiti,” and “We will demand compensation from the vandals.” Subsequently, the Italian government passed a law requiring vandals to pay restoration costs, and the two German men in their 20s were fined for the restoration expenses.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.