Two Australian tourists have been slammed for riding motorised surfboards through a canal listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Venice, Italy.
The men’s stunt was captured on video and Venetian mayor Luigi Brugnaro posted the clip to his Twitter, asking followers to identify them.
“Here are two arrogant idiots who make a mockery of the city … I ask everyone to help us identify them so we can punish them,” Brugnaro wrote.
“I’ll buy dinner for whoever identifies them!”
Ecco due imbecilli prepotenti che si fanno beffa della Città… chiedo a tutti di aiutarci a individuarli per punirli anche se le nostre armi sono davvero spuntate… servono urgentemente più poteri ai Sindaci in tema di sicurezza pubblica!
A chi li individua offro una cena! pic.twitter.com/DV2ONO3hUs— Luigi Brugnaro (@LuigiBrugnaro) August 17, 2022
Italian newspaper Il Gazzettino later reported that the men were identified by police as a Chinese person and an Englishman, both residents of Australia and that both were fined $2100 each.
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The entire city of Venice and its lagoon is listed as UNESCO World Heritage property and things such as swimming in the canals, riding bikes, littering and walking around in a swimsuit are punishable by fine.
Social media users have shared their disgust over the tourist’s choice to surf in the canal. “They need to be expelled from Venice for life, mamma mia,” one wrote. Another commented, “To me, Australian tourists in #Venice seem to have lost their minds in general. Aggressive & snarky. What’s up with that?!”
The disrespectful stunt comes just weeks after another Australian tourist was labelled a “barbarian” by international media for riding a moped almost two kilometres through the ancient ruins of Pompeii in Italy.
Pompeii is universally known for the infamous volcanic eruption that occurred at a nearby volcano, Mount Vesuvius, in 79 CE that covered the city in approximately 6m of ash and debris, and killed up to 16,000 people. The remains weren’t found until sometime in the late 16th century.
The tourist was unlicensed, and reportedly entered the Unesco world heritage site through a service gate that is designated for cars from construction companies to enter.
