Intense outrage has been sparked in Italy over a tourist’s decision in Florence to imitate lewd acts with a statue of Bacchus as her…partner.

Bacchus, a Roman statue, has been placed on a pedestal on a street corner near the famous Ponte Vecchio bridge. The statue is a contemporary copy of a 16th-century work by the sculptor Giambologna, which is kept in the nearby Bargello museum.

The tourist is seen climbing the pedestal at night and kissing the life-size statue, while a second photo, posted by the Welcome To Florence account, shows her mimicking lewd acts.

“This is the result of years of efforts to turn Florence into Disneyland,” one user wrote.

Patrizia Asproni, president of Confcultura, an association that promotes Italy’s cultural heritage, told Italian media that these “repeated manifestations of rudeness and brutality” are happening because everyone feels they can do whatever they want and go unpunished. She called for the Singapore model to be implemented, with strict controls, heavy fines and zero tolerance for bad behaviour.

Antonella Rinaldi, supervisor of archaeology and fine arts in Florence, said: “The police have nothing to do with archaeology and fine arts. Tourists are welcome here, but they have to respect our works of art, whether they are originals or copies,” adding pointedly that she doubted the tourist (“lady” she called her) knew the difference.

Florence is a particularly important tourist destination. The city of 382,000 inhabitants received about 1.5 million people in the period June – September 2023.

The number of people living in the city in 2014 was approximately 1.5 million.

Locals are fighting a battle against over-tourism, and in summer, the narrow streets turn into steady streams of people.

The problem of over-tourism is a concern for many cities around the world, which are making changes. Last month, the mayor of Barcelona pledged to eliminate short-term tourist rentals in the city within five years, while several popular destinations – such as Venice or Japan’s Mount Fuji – have begun introducing daily fees to try to limit the number of visitors.