Online users have seen a video of a visitor entering Rome’s Trevi Fountain famed to fill her water bottle.
The footage, which was shot last month, shows the woman traversing a series of rocks to reach the landmark’s center while bystanders gasp in terror.
She fills her bottle with water from the Rome’s Trevi fountain spout and starts to leave when a guard whistles and approaches.
Before the security removes the visitor, the two have a brief conversation. What happened to the visitor following the incident, including whether she was detained or penalized, is still unknown.
The city’s most well-known feature, the Rome’s Trevi fountain, can incur fines of up to 500 euros for those who enter it.
According to legend, those who toss a coin into its waters will return to Rome.
For the Catholic charity Caritas, about 1.1-1.6 million euros ($1.1-$1.6 million) in coins are collected annually. According to Rome’s tourism agency, the Rome’s Trevi fountain receives roughly 3,000 euros ($3,200) in donations per day during the busiest travel times.
The Rome’s Trevi fountain is currently located just below the square. Visitors must descend stairs to access it, but once there, they frequently stay there or hang on the edge of the Rome’s Trevi fountain, prompting calls for police roadblocks and constant foot patrols along the nearby roadways.
Rome has seen an increase of foreign travelers after the conclusion of COVID-19, but some of these travelers have come under fire for damaging the city’s iconic landmarks.
Two American tourists damaged the Spanish Steps in Rome in June of last year for a total of $25,000. A month earlier, a Saudi visitor crashed his rented Maserati down the travertine staircase, breaking two of the steps.
Tourists regularly swim in Venice’s canals, which also serve as the city’s sewage system, in other parts of Italy. Two Australians surfed down the Grand Canal in August of last year, and Americans stripped off for a skinny dip next to the iconic Arsenale from the 14th century in May.
An Australian also rode his moped around Pompeii in August of last year, while an American shattered two precious artworks in the Vatican Museum in October, ostensibly because he was told he couldn’t meet the pope.
A costly statue was allegedly knocked down at a home in northern Italy earlier this month by a group of young German visitors who were posing for photos to publish on social media, according to the manager of the villa.