Tourist branded 'imbecile' after causing £4,250 of damage to historic Italian fountain

A system sounded an alarm as he jumped down from the statue and was tracked down after security footage caught the tourist.

He is accused of breaking off a chunk of marble from Neptune’s chariot and damaging the hoof of a sculpted horse at the base of the monument.

The incident is thought to have caused around £4,250 of damage, according to authorities.

Dario Nardella, the mayor of Florence, wrote on social media: “This tourist thought it would be a good idea to climb on to Neptune for a selfie.

"Thanks to the council’s security cameras, he was identified and will pay a heavy fine. There is no justification for the vandalism of cultural heritage.”

The mayor posted the security footage along with an image of the tourist, who lives in Berlin.

Architect, Tommaso Muccini who manages the maintenance of historic monuments in Florence, said an alarm had sounded as the “imbecile” visitor jumped down from the monument.

He told Italian daily newspaper La Nazione that the statue had been completely restored in 2018.

The statue, which was commissioned by the Florentine duke Cosimo de’ Medici in 1559, is located in the Piazza della Signoria.

The fountain was created to celebrate the marriage of Cosimo de’ Medici’s heir to the grand duchess of Austria and was sculpted by Bartolomeo Ammannati, a follower of Michelangelo.

Officials say the damage will be repaired next month.

Muccini added that routine maintenance of the fountain, which involves cleaning the marble, removing coins and pigeon droppings, costs £29,850 a year.

It follows a similar incident where a tourist was found scratching their initials on the walls of the Colosseum.

Last month German tourists sprayed football-related graffiti on the exterior of Florence’s raised Vasari Corridor, which links the Uffizi Galleries with the Boboli Gardens.