Vandals Dye Trevi Fountain Water Red

Someone has dyed the water in the Trevi Fountain bright red:

Apparently, someone ran through the crowd in broad daylight and dumped the red dye into the water before darting back through the crowd and disappearing. You can see the leftover bottles of dye floating in the water here:

Officials say no damage was done to the fountain’s marble or the water system, and they’ve since cleaned the whole thing. So, if you ever wanted to know what the bottom of the Trevi Fountain looks like, here’s your chance!

Unfortunately, the news is only in Italian right now, but when it comes out in an English version I’ll come back with better links. For now, thanks to Corriere della Sera for the story and Ansa for the photos.

UPDATE: Here’s an interesting take on the water-dying stunt, including some more information about why it was done.