The tourist who carved his name into the Colosseum has reportedly claimed in an apology letter that he didn’t know it was so old.

The man carved “Ivan + Hayley 23” into the ancient monument using a key and was traced to the UK after an outraged bystander filmed it and put it online.

Ivan Dimitrov – who was with his girlfriend and is believed to live in Bristol – could be fined 15,000 euros (£12,928) or even be jailed for up to five years.

Anger over the incident has been widespread, with Italy‘s culture minister calling it “offensive to everyone around the world”.

Dimitrov has now written an apology to Rome‘s public prosecutor and to the city’s mayor, according to Rome newspaper Il Messaggero, in which he offers “heartfelt and honest apologies to the Italians and to the whole world”.

Despite the Colosseum being more than 1,900 years old, he reportedly writes: “I admit with profound embarrassment that only after what regretfully happened did I learn of the antiquity of the monument.”

His lawyer told the newspaper it’s hoped the letter will help Dimitrov avoid the harshest sentence.

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The video shows the tourist smiling at the camera after he carves the names, while someone can be heard saying: “Serious, man? F***** up, man. Stupid a*******.”

It’s not the first time a tourist has defaced the Colosseum.

In 2015, two US tourists were accused of carving their initials into the amphitheatre – famously for once hosting gladiatorial battles watched by thousands.

The year before, a Russian tourist was fined 20,000 euros (£17,000) for engraving the letter K into the monument.

Other stunts that have caused fury in recent years include a man stripping naked in the fountain at Rome’s Altare della Patria, another damaging the Spanish Steps with a scooter, and people crashing drones into monuments such as the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

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