Two American tourists were detained on Saturday after carving their initials into Rome's ancient Colosseum with a coin.
CNN reported that the perpetrators were two women from California, ages 21 and 25, who remain unnamed.
After carving a "J" and an "N" into an interior wall of the Colosseum, the pair took a selfie with their graffiti. Other tourists saw the women in action, and quickly reported the vandalism to the authorities.
Many shared a picture of the graffiti on social media sites like Twitter.
After being detained and questioned, they were cited for "aggravated damage on a building of historical and artistic interest,"
BuzzFeed reported.
"We apologize for what we did," the women said. "We regret it, but we did not imagine it was something so serious. We’ll remember for a lifetime."
Just a few months ago, Italy slapped a Russian tourist with a 20,000-euro ($21,685) fine for a similar act of vandalism. Prior to that, authorities have caught Australians, a Canadian, and Brazilians carving their names into Colosseum walls.
The Huffington Post reported that archeologists have uncovered graffiti both modern and ancient in the building's many layers of construction, including names, initials, and drawings.
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