Tourists who disrespected famous landmarks of the world

No matter how sacred or significant a landmark is to a country’s culture, valuable landmarks around the world are constantly at risk from disrespectful tourists.

Some people are not satisfied with a simple photo, but scribble their names or other messages on irreplaceable monuments and historical buildings.

Others appear unable to read signs. For example, a woman was recently filmed stepping into the Trevi Fountain in Rome to fill up her water bottle and appeared confused when approached by security guards.

It was not immediately clear whether the woman was arrested or fined, but the video has sparked outrage online since it was shared earlier this week.

Watch: Tourist wades through the historic Trevi Fountain to refill her water bottle

Here, Yahoo News UK takes a look at other cases where historic landmarks have been damaged and disrespected by rude or absent-minded tourists.

The Colosseum, Italy

One of Rome’s most famous landmarks, the Colosseum, has been vandalized many times over the years.

Last month, a 17-year-old Swiss girl was filmed carving the letter “N” into the ancient amphitheater and subsequently became the focus of a police investigation.

Tour guide David Battaglino, who filmed the teenager, said the girl’s parents tried to defend her, saying: “She is just a little girl, she has done nothing wrong,” La Repubblica reported.

The teenager and her parents were taken to a police station in Piazza Venezia in Rome, but it is unclear what happened to the family afterwards.

Read more: Should parents be fined if their children are convicted of antisocial behaviour?

This incident occurred just weeks after a 27-year-old British tourist from Bristol was filmed defacing the same landmark.

Ivan Dimitrov was caught using a key to carve “Ivan + Hayley 23” – his name and that of his girlfriend – into the wall of the nearly 2,000-year-old amphitheater.

He later wrote a letter to the Italians and the world “sincerely and honestly” claiming that he did not know how old the building was.

If convicted, Dimitrov could face a fine of up to 15,000 euros (12,500 pounds) and a prison sentence of two to five years, the BBC reported.

Watch: British tourist who carved names into the Colosseum apologizes to Italian people

Luxor Temple, Egypt

A Chinese teenager named Ding Jinhao caused outrage both in Egypt and his own country when he vandalized the 3,500-year-old Luxor Temple in 2013.

Apparently not content with just taking a photo, he scribbled “Ding Jinhao was here” in Chinese on one of the sandstone carvings.

Another tourist from China spotted him, took a photo of the incident and posted it on the Chinese social network Weibo with the comment: “My saddest moment in Egypt. I am ashamed and cannot show my face.”

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He was eventually found to be a middle school student in Nanjing, east China’s Jiangsu province. His school’s website was hacked and visitors had to check a box that said “Ding visited this place” before they could visit the site, Beijing News reported.

Ding’s parents apologized in an interview with a Nanjing newspaper. His mother told local newspaper Modern Express: “We would like to apologize to the Egyptian people and people across China who have paid attention to this case.”

Temple of Kukulcan, Mexico

It’s not just graffiti at historical sites that gets people angry.

Many of these landmarks are very old and authorities want to do everything they can to preserve them – often by prohibiting tourists from entering or climbing the buildings.

Abigail Villalobos, a 29-year-old Mexican woman, clearly did not get this message when she was filmed dancing up the steps of the ancient Temple of Kukulcan last year.

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In a TikTok video that went viral, she appeared to pose for photos while further down, angry people chanted “jail, jail, jail” and “lock her up” in response to her disrespecting one of the seven wonders of the world.

She was arrested by police and, after half an hour in custody, had to pay a fine of 5,000 pesos (about £230).

The Great Wall, China

Three tourists were caught scribbling their names on the Great Wall of China in 2021 and were subsequently fined by the authorities.

As MailOnline reported, the two men and a woman were found to have defaced the Badaling area, the most popular part of the wall among tourists.

The exact amount of the fine is not known, but the penalty for painting or defacement of a historic building in the People’s Republic is less than 200 yuan (about 22 pounds).

Anyone who causes greater damage can expect a prison sentence of up to ten days and a fine of 500 yuan (about 60 euros).

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Gates of the old city wall of Chiang Mai, Thailand

A 23-year-old British tourist faced a ten-year prison sentence in Thailand for spray-painting the words “Scouser Lee B” on an 800-year-old wall.

Lee Furlong, 23, was arrested in 2018 along with Canadian Brittney Schneider in a guesthouse in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand.

He was caught on video using black spray paint to leave his mark near Tha Phae Gate on the wall surrounding the Old City, and police were able to track him to his hostel.

The backpacker, originally from Liverpool, was mocked online for misspelling “scouse” or “scouser” as “scousse.” He was ultimately spared a prison sentence after his parents agreed to pay a £2,400 fine, The Mirror reported.

Watch: British tourist ‘Scouser Lee’ confronted by Thai police for vandalising 800-year-old wall

Moai figure, Easter Island

In 2008, a 26-year-old tourist from Finland broke off the earlobe of an ancient Moai statue on Easter Island, a Chilean territory in the South Pacific.

Marko Kulju’s actions resulted in the earlobe breaking into several pieces, which caused outrage among the locals. The mayor of the island even went so far as to say: “If an ear is cut off, then an ear is cut off.”

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Maoi are monolithic, human-like sculptures carved by the Rapa Nui people between 1250 and 1500 – meaning they are irreplaceable in any way.

Kulju apologized for his vandalism and was reportedly placed under house arrest in his hotel for 13 days, The Independent reported.

According to the BBC, he was fined £8,500 and ordered to avoid the island for three years.