Cops: She Just Wanted to Touch the Statue's Privates

Florence's Neptune fountain has a new scar, and a new suspect. Italian police say a 28-year-old tourist climbed onto the 16th-century marble monument in Piazza della Signoria as part of a pre-wedding dare to touch the statue's genitals, causing what experts described as "minor but significant" damage, per a release from the Italian city. Specialists later found harm to the legs of the horses she stepped on and to a frieze she'd grabbed for balance. The Guardian reports that the cost of repairs is estimated at about $5,800. The woman, meanwhile, has been charged with defacing an artistic and architectural asset, which the Local notes carries a potential fine of up to $47,000 or so.

The fountain, created by Bartolomeo Ammannati and commissioned in 1559 by Cosimo I de' Medici, has increasingly become a prop in tourist "challenges," according to city officials. Despite tighter surveillance, including CCTV installed after earlier incidents, visitors continue to scale Florence's landmarks for selfies and social media stunts—from a German tourist who damaged Neptune in 2023, to a teen who hid overnight in a city cathedral to climb its dome two years ago, per the Guardian. Giorgio Caselli, who oversees Florence's fine-arts office, said such behavior reflects a lack of respect for the city's heritage and warned against indulging "ignorance and superficiality" around its monuments.