Hotel Manager: rude and ignorant!, German tourists topple the century old statue of Italy | Villas | Italy
The manager of a villa hotel in northern Italy said on the 3rd that a group of German young tourists knocked down a 150 year old statue during their stay in the villa, causing irreparable damage.
According to Reuters, the incident occurred on the 31st of last month at the Alceo villa in Viju town and was captured by surveillance cameras.
Villa manager Bruno Gefferini said that several German tourists stepped into the fountain in the villa, posed in various poses, took photos, and posted them on social media. Two of them stood in the fountain embracing the statue, while the other pushed it with a stick, causing the statue to fall.
This female statue is called "Dominica" and is about 1.7 meters tall. It was created by Italian artist Enrique Buti 150 years ago and is estimated to be worth 200000 euros. Gefferini said that when the statue fell to the ground, it also smashed the fountain tiles, making it difficult to repair.
"Dominica is like the protector of this villa," added Gefferini. "It's sad that these rude and ignorant people do such things."
Gefferini complained to the local police about the 17 person German tour group renting a villa. They have left Italy after the incident.
In June of this year, a British tourist was exposed on social media using a key to engrave the names of himself and his girlfriend on a wall of the Colosseum in the Italian capital Rome, sparking anger among the Italian public.
Last August, two foreign tourists were playing on electric surfboards in the canal in the water city of Venice. They were fined 1500 euros per person for endangering canal traffic, and their surfboards were confiscated.