«Patha». A word written with a black permanent marker on the cubicle, painted in third style, of the House of the Bronze Hermone of the ancient domus Herculaneum destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD
A disfigurement committed on Sunday afternoon at the archaeological park of Herculaneum by a Portuguese tourist, but resident in Holland, who arrived in Italy in a camper together with his girlfriend. And once at the excavations, convinced that he was not seen, he defaced an artifact with a thousand-year history. A “game”, as the vandal stopped by the police at the local station responded, which cost him a complaint and probably the appropriate sanctions.
A stunt which, however, happens a little too often and which, in addition to causing indignation, requires ever more attention to the archaeological riches of the country. Attention and timeliness that in this case the Herculaneum Park showed, allowing the police to immediately stop the perpetrator of the gesture.
In fact, the 27-year-old was being observed by the Park’s video surveillance cameras at the time of the crime. According to what was reported by the operators, before signing the wall of the domus he also looked around, aware that he was carrying out an illegal act. Immediately, the operators on the security system’s radio link alerted the police who managed to stop the tourist, before he left the park, to take him to the barracks. Here the 27-year-old reported that he thought it could be done, and that for fun he wanted to sign the work. He was reported for damaging and defacing artistic works.
«Every damage is a wound to our heritage – said the Minister of Culture, Gennaro Sangiuliano – to our beauty and our identity and this is why it must be sanctioned with the utmost firmness. I thank the police for immediately identifying and reporting the perpetrator of this vile gesture. I also remember that thanks to the law that I strongly supported, this individual will also have to pay for the restoration work of the work out of his own pocket.” The House, called the Bronze Herm because a sculpture depicting a man was found inside, stands on the fourth cardo. If you notice the painting, the Portuguese’s signature is not the only one.
«The existing graffiti was done up until 2002 – explained the director of the Park, Francesco Sirano – and a project to eradicate it is about to start. Since 2020, the Park has had an advanced video surveillance system in operation which, fortunately, worked. We have introduced a new reception and security protocol and are about to expand video surveillance. In fact, we will activate infrared cameras to prevent copper thefts at night. Furthermore, we have purchased a drone and are training our operators to fly it. Ours is a proactive attitude, we try to prevent problems. We are very sorry, also because on Sunday we counted 3 thousand entries. It is also a question of education to respect and protect beauty.”
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