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10 January 2018New act of vandalism in the excavations of Pompeii.

Unknown people have damaged the fresco of Bacchus and Ariadne, present in one of the domus closed to the public.

The discovery in the afternoon by the keepers who reported the scar. 



It is a small portion of the fresco for which the director general of the archaeological park of Pompeii, Massimo Osanna, filed a complaint with the carabinieri for vandalism. 



"This afternoon - it was the director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park himself who gave the news - a custodian reported to the management an act of vandalism in a domus closed to the public (Regio IX, insula 5, 14-16). Following an immediate inspection by the technicians of the archaeological park was found to have damaged a portion of about 10 centimeters of a picture depicting Bacchus and Ariadne ". 



"The person in charge of the excavations, Grete Stefani - added Osanna - immediately filed a complaint at the carabinieri station present in the excavations. The management subsequently mobilized its restorers to start the recovery and restoration procedures. I hope that the responsible - concluded Osanna - whoever carries out these acts injures Italy and its cultural heritage ". 



It is not the first time that, especially in the aftermath of periods of high tourist turnout, the damage is counted at the site on the outskirts of Naples. The increase in the number of visitors, in fact, also increases the risk of damage. The alarm had already been raised by Osanna at the end of last year. 



The last episode, in chronological order, is the soiling of a recently restored fountain with pomegranate juice.

It could therefore be a coincidence, or maybe not, that just three days ago Pompeii experienced the first "free Sunday" of 2018, registering another boom in attendance. 



2017 closed with the discovery of damage to one of the buildings still closed and in an area involved in restoration with funds from the Great Pompeii Project.

Following a copious rain, last December 19 the collapse of a wall of a domus that cannot be visited was detected, due to the collapse of a cistern in the Casa della Caccia ai Tori.

That was the last episode until today's discovery of yet another act of vandalism against one of the most precious cultural sites in the world.