American Who Filmed Tourist Carving Name in Colosseum ‘Dumbfounded’ as Hunt for Culprit Intensifies

Visitors walk past the Colosseum in Rome, on June 27, 2023. Andrew Medichini/AP Photo

ROME—Italy’s culture and tourism ministers have vowed to find and punish a tourist who was filmed carving his name and that of his apparent girlfriend in the wall of the Colosseum in Rome, a crime that resulted in hefty fines in the past.

The message reading “Ivan+Haley 23” appeared on the Colosseum at a time when Romans already were complaining about hordes of tourists flooding the Eternal City in record numbers this season. A fellow tourist, Ryan Lutz, of Orange, California., filmed the incident and posted the video on YouTube and Reddit.