27-year-old Bulgarian Ivan Dimitrov, a fitness instructor who lives and works in the English city of Bristol, is the man who on June 23 carved his name and that of his girlfriend Haley on the Coliseum with a key.
After several days of investigation, the Italian authorities were able to identify the young man who scratched a wall in the Flavian Amphitheater with the names Ivan and Hayley, adding the date June 23. Italian media reported that the tourist couple had returned to Bristol, but that the carabinieri were on their trail. To get to them, they controlled hotel nights, plane tickets and other documents.
The video footage of the young man smiling with a key to his name and that of his girlfriend was accidentally captured by an American tourist who happened to be nearby. Then he posted them on social media and that’s how they reached millions of people. The management of the archaeological park of the Colosseum made a complaint to the Carabinieri in Rome, who opened an investigation. They have now sent the documents directly to Ivan’s home in Bristol that they are under investigation.
According to “Corriere della Sera”, if his guilt is proven, he risks up to 5 years in prison and a 15 thousand euro fine. At the same time, the girlfriend of the Bulgarian woman is not being investigated because she was only a spectator of the act of vandalism. The identity of the Bulgarian was also discovered by the English media, which also published photos of the Bulgarian.
Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano thanked the carabinieri for revealing who was responsible for the “uncivilized act”.
“This is an act that offended all the people in the world who appreciate the values of archaeology, monuments and history,” commented the minister. He added that he now expects justice to do its job. A draft law is currently being considered in parliament, which should make the sanctions against those who damage cultural heritage even tougher.
The director of the archaeological park of the Colosseum, Alfonsina Russo, told RAI 1 radio that the people who commit vandalism “were not brought up in respect by their family and school.”
The video with Ivan in the Coliseum was published on the social network Reddit.
And in the past, a Bulgarian engraved his name on the Colosseum. In 2015, footballer Blagoi Georgiev was caught writing the name of his then-fiancée Esmer on a wall of the Colosseum. He was then taken to the nearby Carabinieri station, where a report was written on the case.
2023-06-29 19:32:00
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