From The Ugly American File: Two California Girls Deface Rome Colosseum In Pursuit Of Selfie

“We regret it, but we did not imagine it was something so serious.”

That is how two California tourists described their defacing of 2,000-year-old structure that once hosted 73,000 spectators. Now it is visited by six million of tourists each year who understand that this building is a piece of archeological history and it shouldn’t be messed with. Unlike these two “intellectuals” who broke away from their tour group to carve the initials “J” and “N” into a wall using a coin. They then had the foresight to take a selfie with their new artwork so that can show all their friends what they did on their vacation. For the record, this vandalizing Thelma and Louise duo are 21 and 25. Can’t quite blame this on being young teenagers.

In their defense, they probably didn’t see all the signs posted around the Colosseum declaring that defacing the walls is strictly forbidden. Still, there are plenty who see the crumbling edifice as fair game unlike the Vatican or an actual museum with a roof.

“There’s a difference in perception. Museums are treated like churches, sacred places where there are things of great value. Whereas the Colosseum is an incomplete building which has already been robbed,” the spokesman for the Special Superintendency for the Archaeological Heritage of Roam said to the Guardian.

Sadly, these girls aren’t alone in their stupidity. Three months ago, a Russian tourist was caught carving his initials into the Colosseum and slapped with a 20,000-euro fine. Here’s hoping the girls from Cali get the same fair treatment because let’s be honest, Maximus did not die for this!