Thelife- Two American tourists were caught wheeling their scooters down
Rome 's Spanish Steps on June 3. - Their actions dislodged four inches of travertine and caused $27,000 in damage, authorities say.
Authorities have fined two American tourists for damaging Rome's iconic Spanish Steps, local
In video footage of the June 3 incident, a man can be seen wheeling an electric scooter down the marble steps. A woman can be seen throwing her scooter down the stairs.
Their actions created scratches on the stairs and dislodged four inches worth of travertine, Rome's Capitoline Superintendence for Cultural Heritage wrote in a statement seen by Insider. The heritage office said it would cost €25,000 ($27,000) to repair the steps.
"The superintendency will start, as soon as possible, the work necessary to restore the damaged steps, which includes the setup of the work area, the cleaning of the surfaces, the consolidation of cracks and detachments, the stucco work, and integration of the damaged parts and final protection operations," the cultural heritage office wrote in the statement.
The tourists in question are a 29-year-old man and a 28-year-old woman, per a press release from the local police. The press release, which Insider viewed, did not state the tourists' names. The pair has been fined €800 ($851) in total.
Both tourists have been banned from visiting the Unesco heritage site for six months, according to Franco Pasqualetti, a spokesperson for Rome's City Council, The New York Times reported. Pasqualetti said the pair was "completely drunk" during the incident.
Rome's City Council did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
The scooter incident comes weeks after Roman police charged a man with aggravated damage to cultural heritage and monuments after he drove his Maserati down the same stairs on May 14. Roman police apprehended the man at Milan's Malpensa airport after tracking him down using CCTV videos and contacting the car-hire company he used, Rome's police force wrote on Facebook.
The Spanish Steps, also known as Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti, are a popular tourist destination. In 2015, they underwent a €1.5m restoration process, per The Florentine. On July 8, 2019, Roman authorities passed an ordinance under which people caught sitting, eating, or drinking on the steps can face fines of up to €400 ($425).