Tourists in Piazza Venezia in Rome sparked outrage when they stripped down to their underwear and frolicked in the waters of a fountain Sunday.
Video footage of the incident shows two men bathing in the fountain at the Altare della Patria, which is a monument that honors the first king of Italy following the country's unification and also pays tribute to all fallen soldiers, BBC reported.
In the video clip, which was published to a blog in Rome, the pair stand around in their underwear then one of them pulls down his underpants and poses for photos taken by a group of people they appear to know.
The footage has caused outrage.
"I condemn in the strongest terms this behavior, which offends each one of us, as well as the memory of those who died for our country, to whom the monument is dedicated," said Luca Bergamo, the deputy mayor of Rome, according to The Telegraph. "Behaving like this shows stupidity and ignorance and a lack of respect for the history of Rome and of Italy."
The country's deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini, called the two men "idiots" on Twitter, stating that Italy was "not their bathroom," while police said they had "gravely offended national sentiment," The Telegraph said.
Authorities are determined to take the matter further and are on the hunt for the two men, who they have described as foreigners whose mother tongue is English.
Once caught, police said the two men will be prosecuted for their "illegal and offensive behavior," according to The Telegraph.
The incident comes shortly after a brawl erupted by Rome's Trevi Fountain when two tourists clashed over a selfie.
The iconic fountain is a popular tourist destination and makes for the perfect backdrop for the quick selfie, which is what a 19-year-old female tourist from the Netherlands and a 44-year-old Italian-American traveler had in mind when the incident unfolded.
According to Fox News, both women wanted to take a selfie at the same spot, at a very specific time of day when the lighting was ideal, but things got heated as they both hustled for the right angle at the fountain.
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