British tourist claimed he wanted to leave record of visit to ancient site.

Italian police on Wednesday cited a British tourist for damaging cultural heritage after the man carved his initials and those of his two daughters onto a frescoed wall in Pompeii.

The 37-year-old tourist defaced the ancient Casa delle Vestali or House of the Vestals by scrawling the letters "JW LMW MW" along with the date "07/08/24" and "MYLAW".

Carabinieri police arrived at the scene after being notified by Pompeii staff who had observed the man standing close to the frescoed section of the site and discovered the carvings as soon as he left.

The man was reported to the Public Prosecutor's Office at the Court of Torre Annunziata, according to Italian media reports, and faces being ordered to pay for repairs to the wall.

The tourist reportedly apologised to police and claimed that he had wanted to leave a record of his family visit to Pompeii which was buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.

In June a Dutch tourist was cited for writing a graffiti tag on the walls of an ancient Roman domus at the archaeological park of Herculaneum near Naples.

Last summer a Bulgarian man living in the UK sparked outrage after he was filmed carving "Ivan+Hayley 23” into a wall at the Colosseum in Rome.

Earlier this year the Italian parliament approved tough new fines of up to €60,000 on those who damage or deface the country's monuments and heritage sites.

Photo Corriere della Sera