Tourist accused of damaging 16th-century fountain in ‘pre-wedding challenge’

• A tourist in Florence allegedly damaged the 16th-century Fountain of Neptune, known as the 'Biancone', in Piazza della Signoria.
• Local police spotted the 28-year-old woman scaling the railings and climbing onto one of the horse's legs in the fountain on Saturday, 18 April.
• She told police her intention was to touch the statue's private parts as part of a 'pre-wedding challenge'.
• Specialists later found “minor but significant” damage to the horses' hooves and a frieze, which the woman is thought to have clung to.
• The tourist has been reported to judicial authorities for defacing an artistic and architectural monument.

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Historic Florence fountain damaged by tourist’s ‘pre-wedding challenge’