Rubble trouble erupts in Rome’s fountains

Police in Rome are hunting a phantom fountain fiend who launched an attack in the historic heart of the city before vanishing.

Fragments of the renowned Fountain of the Moors in Rome’s Piazza Navona were found scattered around.

CCTV footage showed an attacker wading in and repeatedly beating one of the four faces with a rock.

The fountain first appeared in 1575, but the original figures were removed and replaced with replicas late in the 19th century.

One resident said: ‘They are stupid vandals, and unfortunately we have to tolerate them. Nobody does anything, but we couldn’t have police checking everything.’

Another added: ‘It’s a horrible thing, but how can we stop it happening? More checks maybe? Should we close it in a glass case? I don’t know.’

Elsewhere in Rome investigators are monitoring different CCTV footage after reports that the fountain felon flung a rock at the world famous Trevi fountain too.

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