Tourist carves name into ancient Pompeii villa

ROME

Ancient graffiti may line the city walls of Pompeii, but a tourist was recently caught adding his own name onto a wall, sparking outrage in the latest act of vandalism at an archaeological site, ARTnews has reported.

A man from Kazakhstan reportedly carved “Ali” on light plaster in the House of the Ceii when he was caught on June 22. The wall is part of an ancient villa believed to have been owned by the magistrate Lucius Ceius Secundus.

The vandal will have to pay for the necessary restoration work to remove the graffiti from the ancient wall, according to Italian authorities.

Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, has called these kinds of incidents “an uncivilized act. Thanks to the new law supported by Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano, the perpetrator of the crime will have to pay for the restoration of the wall.”

Adding, according to the Daily Mail, “Well done to the ministry collaborators and the Ales company who promptly intervened. Excellent collaboration with the police, who we thank for their promptness.”

A rare example of a late Samnite period residence, the House of the Ceii is a tetrastyle atrium and impluvium filled with lavish frescos of wild animals set in an Egyptian-style landscape along the Nile Delta. These themes are believed to be linked to the cult of Isis, which was popular leading up to the city’s destruction in 79CE.

Pompeii is an ancient Roman city that has been preserved in ash following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. This is not the first time someone has been caught denigrating ancient structures. Last year, for instance, a tourist carved his and his girlfriend’s names into the Colosseum in Rome.