Pompeii [Italy], August 10: The ancient city of Pompeii, with its almost intact streets and unbroken houses, offers visitors a rare opportunity to see how people lived 2,000 years ago.
A visit to this present-day Italian site leaves unforgettable memories of the ancient Roman city of some 20,000 inhabitants buried in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.
However, according to CNN, memories are still not enough for a British tourist who was recently discovered carving his and his relatives' initials on thousands of years old houses.
The anonymous 37-year-old tourist carved five locations, including his initials, his relatives' names, and the date August 7, on the wall of an ancient house here.
Photos of the damage show letters carved with a sharp object into the plaster next to the door, with the letters "JW LMW MW" high on the wall and "MYLAW 07/08/24" further down clearly visible.
Staff at the site discovered the incident and called the police. The man apologized and admitted to writing his and his two daughters' initials to indicate they had visited the site, according to ANSA.
The monuments authority declined to comment on the incident. In June, a tourist from Kazakhstan was caught carving his name into an ancient house there and was forced to pay for the restoration of the wall.
The case has been referred to a local court on charges of "damaging artistic heritage", a charge that carries a fine of between 20,000 and 60,000 euros and a prison sentence of up to five years under laws amended in January.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper