Italian police said they believe the man filmed engraving his name and that of his apparent girlfriend on the ancient Roman Colosseum in Rome is a tourist who lives in the United Kingdom.
The identification was made using photographic comparisons, Italian Carabinieri said in a press statement on Thursday.
The statement did not provide the name of the suspect nor his whereabouts. When reached by phone, police said no further information could be given.
Italian officials have said they will find and punish the tourist who carved “Ivan+Haley 23” on a wall of the Colosseum in Rome, a crime that has resulted in hefty fines in the past.
The vandal was filmed in the act by a tourist from the United States, Ryan Lutz, who posted the video on social media after he said Colosseum guards failed to show interest in his footage.
“It’s extremely disgraceful and a sign of great lack of culture that a tourist defaces one of the most famous places in the world, a piece of historical heritage,” Italy’s Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano said on Tuesday.
Sangiuliano expressed the hope that the culprit would be found and punished.
Built in the first century, the Colosseum is the largest amphitheatre in the world, a Roman landmark and a major tourist attraction that draws approximately a million visitors each year.
The incident was at least the fourth time this year that such graffiti was reported at the Colosseum, an act that carries fines of up to $15,000 and five years in prison.
