ROME — Climate activists poured black liquid into the waters of Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers in Rome’s Piazza Navona on Saturday before being dragged away by police.
The four eco-vandals reportedly belong to the alarmist group Ultima Generazione (Last Generation) and the black liquid they used to deface the Baroque masterpiece consisted of diluted charcoal.
“Our future is as black as this water,” read a sign carried by one of the marauders.
“Another senseless disfigurement of the monuments of Rome,” said Rome’s mayor Roberto Gualtieri. “After the Barcaccia in Piazza di Spagna, this time it was the turn of the fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona, an act by groups that call themselves environmentalists.”
“Defense of the environment is not accomplished by putting our artistic heritage at risk,” he added.
The four perpetrators of the Bernini Fountain vandalism were arrested and technicians from Italy’s ACEA public utility company immediately intervened to remove as much of the pollutants as possible before they could indelibly stain the marble of the fountain.
“Fortunately, as the experts explained to me, the swift intervention by the Local Police and ACEA prevented the damage from being permanent,” Gualtieri said, noting that if the black liquid had reached more porous parts of the monument, traces could have remained with irreparable damage.
“It is truly irresponsible to put at risk in this way priceless assets from a world heritage site,” he stated.