Rome police caught vandal who now faces criminal charges for vandalising the Fountain of the Moor.

One of Rome's celebrated fountains, the Fontana del Moro in Piazza Navona, has been vandalised by a 61-year-old Italian man who used a knife to dislodge a chunk of stone from the base of the 16th-century monument.

Police managed to track down the individual, and retrieve the stolen stone, thanks to surveillance cameras and the "fundamental" help of a French citizen who reported the crime and provided vital information leading to the man's arrest.

• Discover the fountains of Rome with new app

The culprit now faces charges of theft and damage to public works, while the city's superintendency is tasked with quantifying the costs of restoring the monument.

• Rome's most beautiful fountains

Last month police fined two 20-year-old Italian men for splashing around in the fountain in their underpants as their friend filmed them.