- The Washington Times - Monday, July 17, 2023

Two teenagers were caught separately defacing Rome’s Colosseum in the past week, less than a month after a British tourist was detained for doing the same.

A 17-year-old Swiss girl was spotted Friday engraving the letter “N” into the nearly 2,000-year-old structure while on vacation in Rome, according to Italian news outlet ADNKronos.

A 17-year-old German student also was caught Sunday scratching a wall on the Colosseum’s ground floor, causing a brick fragment to break off.



Both teens face a fine of up to 15,000 euro ($16,853) for destroying the historic property.

British national Ivan Dimitrov, 27, faces the same fine and a potential jail term of two to five years for carving into the structure last month.

The Bristol-based fitness trainer went viral for etching “Ivan + Hayley,” his girlfriend’s name, into the Colosseum’s walls.

• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.

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