A protester who jumped into the Trevi fountain dressed as an ancient Roman senator has been slapped with a €550 fine.
ADVERTISEMENTA protester who jumped into the Trevi fountain dressed as an ancient Roman senator has been slapped with a €550 fine.
Video footage shows a man addressing crowds at the tourist attraction in central Rome before a police officer drags him away.
The Italian news agency, ANSA, reported he was protesting against victims of the Camorra: shop-owners who are expected to pay a "fee" to continue working untroubled. The man demanded to speak with Italy's interior minister.
The Camorra is an Italian mafia-type crime syndicate, which was formed in the region of Campania and its capital Naples, several centuries ago.
Rome mayor Virginia Raggi took to Twitter to condemn the incident and announce he had been fined €550.
"Our monuments must be respected and the historic fountains of Rome are not a swimming pool. A local police officer was forced to get into the tub of the Trevi fountain to bring out a man who, dressed as an ancient Roman senator, threw himself into the water. This is unacceptable behaviour towards which there is no kind of tolerance," Raggi said.
"After the approval of the Regulation of Urban Police, anyone who decides to take a bath in the Fountains of Rome is punished with a fine of 550 euros and with the Urban Daspo. So it was for the picturesque Roman senator and so it will be for anyone who offends the heritage of the city, which belongs to all."
This is not the first time someone has jumped into the Trevi fountain. Last September, two Canadian tourists jumped into the historic fountain, as did a naked man the year before.