Bride-to-be damages 16th-century fountain in Florence in premarital stunt, authorities say

Authorities in Florence, Italy, have charged a 28-year-old woman with damaging a 16th-century fountain for a pre-wedding stunt.

Florentine officials said Tuesday that the suspect, whom they did not name, climbed over a railing into the city’s Fountain of Neptune on Saturday.

She then climbed directly onto the monument’s horses, which support a shell that in turn supports a statue of the Roman sea god Neptune, in order to avoid getting wet, the officials said.

The woman intended to touch the statue’s genitalia as a “premarital dare,” Florentine officials said. They also said she was a foreigner, but did not specify her country.

Local police spotted and stopped the woman, then got her to get off the statue and identify herself. The city did not say whether she was taken into custody.

The stunt damaged the hooves of the horses she clambered over as well as a frieze that the suspect is accused of clinging to to avoid slipping. More than $5,800 worth of damage was done, according to Italian news agency ANSA.

Florentine officials said the woman was therefore “reported to the Judicial Authorities for defacing an artistic-architectural monument,” as translated from Italian.

“The physical contact that is sought with the monument is far from the objective, emotional and intellectual [awareness] that we expect and favor towards our monumental heritage. We must not allow ourselves any conscientious concessions to the ignorance and superficiality that characterize such actions,” said Giorgio Caselli, manager of Florence’s fine arts office, according to The Guardian.