Tourist sign with a marker on a wall with Herculaneum graffiti

ROME (EFE). – A tourist from the Netherlands has written his signature in indelible marker on the graffitied wall of a Roman-era house in the archaeological park of the ancient Italian city of Herculaneum, which was buried by Vesuvius next to Pompeii in the same year 79 AD

The 27-year-old tourist, who was holidaying in Campania (south), signed with a permanent black marker on a wall covered with plaster and the remains of a fresco in the ruins of this old ‘domus’ of Herculaneum.

Security forces were alerted last night, the culprit was identified and a complaint was filed against him for damaging and defacing artistic works, local media reported on Monday.

Herculaneum, one of the most precious archaeological sites

The site of Herculaneum is one of Italy’s most precious archaeological sites, and along with Pompeii it was almost completely destroyed by the volcanic eruption of Vesuvius two millennia ago. Both sites are listed by UNESCO as World Heritage of Humanity.

Herculaneum, located south of present-day Naples, was a coastal city inhabited by the most prosperous Romans. The first remains of the ancient city were discovered in the early 18th century after the digging of a well.

This is not the first vandalism of archaeological and historical monuments in Italy in recent times.

This 2023, another foreign tourist etched his and his girlfriend’s name on a wall of the Colosseum in Rome, the most visited monument in Italy and also a World Heritage Site. The tourist recorded the moment in a video circulated on social networks that generated outrage.