A tourist in Florence allegedly damaged a 16th-century fountain as part of a pre-marriage challenge to touch a statue’s genitals.
Florence city officials said a woman climbed up the Fountain of Neptune, known as the “Biancone,” in Piazza della Signoria and left it damaged.
The fountain was built in 1565 to celebrate the opening of a new aqueduct and earned its nickname, which means “great white,” due to the brilliance of its marble.
The statues at the heart of the fountain show the Roman sea god Neptune on a chariot drawn by four horses, surrounded by other figures.
Cops spotted the 28-year-old woman climbing the fountain earlier this month after she scaled the railing and the edge of the basin, the Independent reports.
“To avoid touching the water, she climbed directly onto one of the horse’s legs in the centre of the fountain,” reporter Amelia Neath writes. “The officers immediately intervened and got her out of the fountain.”
Heath quoted the woman later telling officers that she intended to “touch the statue’s private parts as part of a sort of pre-wedding challenge.”
After the incident, specialists from the Palazzo Vecchio Workshop carried out an inspection and found damage to both the horses’ hooves and a frieze.
The tourist is facing charges of defacing an artistic and architectural monument.
