- A tourist climbed up the Foutain of Neptune in Florence, Italy, to take a selfie, the mayor said.
- He caused around $5,375 in damage to the historic monument, according to Deutsche Welle.
A tourist climbed up the famous Fountain of Neptune in Florence, Italy, this weekend, damaging it by breaking off a piece of marble in the process, the city's mayor said.
Dario Nardella, Florence's Mayor, said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday that the tourist was trying to take a selfie on the monument when he caused damage.
—Dario Nardella (@DarioNardella) September 4, 2023
The Fountain of Neptune, which was completely restored in 2018, was built in the 16th century to commemorate the marriage of a member of the House of Medici to an Archduchess of Austria.
Video footage and an image with a blurred-out face, both posted by the mayor on X, appear to show the individual scaling the historic monument in the heart of the Italian city.
Nardella said in the X post that the man was identified thanks to surveillance cameras.
The City of Florence said he is a 22-year-old German tourist.
Nardella said that he would now be made to pay a substantial fine. The exact number was not specified.
Florence's governmental office did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
A bit of marble broke off when the tourist climbed on the monument's chariot, with the horse's hoof being damaged on his way down, the City of Florence said.
Around 5,000 Euros, or $5,375, in damage was caused by the selfie stunt, it added. The monument will be repaired during scheduled maintenance in October.
"There is no justification against the vandalism of cultural heritage," Nardella said in the X post.
Tommaso Muccini, the fine arts architect at the Palazzo Vecchio, which is responsible for the maintenance of the monument, told the Italian newspaper La Nazione that the monument's sensors did not set off an alarm when the tourist entered the fountain.
This is likely because he passed in front of the floodlights that light up the fountain, creating interference with the sensors, Muccini said, per La Nazione. The alarm did, however, go off when the tourist was exiting, Muccini added.
During the scheduled maintenance in October, the sensors will be updated to ensure that alarms are triggered immediately, hopefully preventing such an incident from reoccurring, Muccini said, per La Nazione.
This summer, there have been numerous instances of tourists damaging historic monuments in Italy.
A group of German tourists toppled a 150-year-old statue at an Italian villa last month, the manager said.
There have also been repeated incidents of people defacing Rome's Colosseum.
Also in Rome, a bizarre video showed a tourist climbing into the Trevi fountain to fill her water bottle.
These events caused Italy's tourism minister to describe misbehaving tourists as "vandals," who he said had "no respect" for the country's cultural heritage.
Insider published a series of photos showing just how wildly out of control tourists are this summer.