Tourists who disrespected famous global landmarks

No matter how sacred or significant to a nation's culture, treasured landmarks across the world are constantly at risk from disrespectful tourists.

Far from being satisfied with a simple photo, some people have scrawled their names or other messages onto irreplaceable monuments and historic structures.

Others appear incapable of reading signs, such as a woman recently filmed climbing into Rome's Trevi Fountain to fill up her water bottle – appearing confused when security guards confronted her.

It wasn't immediately clear if the woman was arrested or fined, but the video has prompted plenty of outrage online since it was shared earlier this week.

Watch: Tourist wades through historic Trevi Fountain to fill up her water bottle

Here, Yahoo News UK takes a look at other cases of historic landmarks being vandalised and disrespected by rude or absent-minded tourists.

The Colosseum, Italy

One of Rome's most well-known landmarks, the Colosseum, has been defaced plenty of times over the years.

Last month, a 17-year-old Swiss girl was filmed carving the letter 'N' into the ancient amphitheatre and found herself at the centre of a police investigation.

Tour guide David Battaglino, who filmed the teenager, said the girl's parents tried to defend her by saying: "She's just a little girl, she wasn't doing anything wrong", La Repubblica reported.

The teen and her parents were taken to a police station in Rome's Piazza Venezia, but it is not clear what happened to the family afterwards.

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That incident came just weeks after a 27-year-old British tourist from Bristol was caught on camera defacing the same landmark.

Ivan Dimitrov was caught using a key to carve 'Ivan + Hayley 23' – his and his girlfriend's names – into the wall of the nearly 2,000-year-old amphitheatre.

He later wrote a "heartfelt and honest" apology "to the Italians and to the whole world" in a letter, claiming he wasn't aware of how old the structure was.

If convicted for the offence, Dimitrov could face a fine of up to €15,000 (£12,500) as well as a prison sentence of two-to-five years, the BBC reported.

Watch: British tourist who carved names into Colosseum issues apology to people of Italy

Luxor Temple, Egypt

A Chinese teenager named Ding Jinhao provoked anger in both Egypt and his own country after he vandalised the 3,500-year-old Luxor Temple in 2013.

Clearly not content with taking a picture, he scrawled 'Ding Jinhao visited here' in Chinese across one of the sandstone carvings.

Another tourist from China spotted him and took a picture of the incident, posting it to Chinese social networking site Weibo with the comment: "My saddest moment in Egypt. Ashamed and unable to show my face."

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He was eventually revealed to be a middle school student in Nanjing in east China's Jiangsu Province. His school's website was hacked and visitors had to click a box saying "Ding has visited this place" before being able to visit, Beijing News reported.

Ding's parents issued an apology via an interview with a newspaper in Nanjing. His mother told local newspaper Modern Express: "We want to apologise to the Egyptian people and to people who have paid attention to this case across China."

Temple of Kukulcan, Mexico

It isn't only graffiti at historic sites that gets people's backs up.

Many of these landmarks are very old, and authorities want to do all they can to keep them preserved – often by banning tourists from walking or climbing on them.

Abigail Villalobos, a 29-year-old Mexican, clearly didn't get that message when she was filmed last year climbing the steps of the ancient Temple of Kukulcan and dancing.

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In a TikTok video that went viral, she appeared to pose for pictures as angry people down below shouted “jail, jail, jail” and “lock her up" in response to her disrespecting one of the seven wonders of the world.

She was arrested by police, and after spending half an hour in custody, paid a fine of 5,000 pesos (about £230).

The Great Wall, China

Three tourists were caught scrawling their names on the Great Wall of China in 2021 and were subsequently fined by authorities.

The two men and one woman were found to have defaced the Badaling zone – the most popular part of the wall for tourists, MailOnline reported.

It isn't known exactly how much they were fined, but the penalty for carving or scrawling on a historic building in the People's Republic is less than 200 yuan (about £22).

Those causing more serious damage can be detained for up to 10 days and fined 500 yuan (about £54).

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Chiang Mai Old City Wall Gates, Thailand

A 23-year-old British tourist faced the prospect of 10 years in a Thai prison after spray-painting 'Scouser Lee B' on an 800-year-old wall.

Lee Furlong, 23, was arrested alongside Canadian Brittney Schneider, at a guest house in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand in 2018.

He was caught on CCTV using black spray-paint to leave his mark close to Tha Phae gate, on the walls surrounding the old city, with police tracking him down to his hostel.

The backpacker, originally from Liverpool, was mocked online for misspelling 'scouse' or 'scouser' as 'scousse'. Eventually he was spared jail after his parents agreed to pay a fine of £2,400, The Mirror reported.

Watch: British tourist 'Scouser Lee' confronted by Thai police for vandalising 800-year-old wall

Moai figure, Easter Island

In 2008, a 26-year-old tourist from Finland snapped off an earlobe from an ancient Moai statue on Easter Island, a Chilean territory in the South Pacific.

Marko Kulju's actions resulted in the lobe broken into several pieces, prompting outrage among locals. The island's mayor even went as far as suggesting: "If an ear is cut off, then an ear gets cut."

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Maoi are monolithic human-like sculptures, carved by the Rapa Nui people between the years 1250 and 1500 – meaning they are in no way replaceable.

Kulju issued an apology for his vandalism and was reportedly kept under house arrest at his hotel for 13 days, The Independent reported.

According to the BBC, he was fined £8,500 and told to stay away from the island for three years.