Agrigento outlaws souvenirs that glorify Mafia.

The mayor of the Sicilian city of Agrigento has banned the sale of Mafia-themed souvenirs in an effort to promote legality and avoid negative stereotypes of the Italian island.

The ban was announced after some shops in the city centre displayed souvenir figures portraying Sicilians dressed in traditional clothes and carrying the lupara sawn-off shotgun, complete with the words "u mafiusu".

The ordinance introduced by mayor Francesco Miccichè prohibits tourist souvenir shops from selling "objects and representations reminiscent of the mafia and mafiosi" or items that "praise, or refer in any way or form, to the mafia and organised crime".

The prohibition order states that the sale of such souvenirs "mortifies the Agrigento community, which has been engaged for years in spreading the culture of legality".

The ban comes as the city on Sicily's southern coast prepares to assume the prestigious role of Italy's Capital of Culture 2025.

In 2019 authorities at Agrigento's archaeological park at the Valley of the Temples banned the sale of Mafia souvenir items in its vicinity.

Photo credit: lindasky76 / Shutterstock.com.