(ANSA) - Rome police have recovered the last crucial piece of one of the city's famous fountains which was vandalised last week.
Standing outside a popular park near the Colosseum, the 'Fontana della Navicella' (Little Ship fountain) is in the form of an ornate Roman galleon with its prow in the shape of a wild boar's snout.
Last Thursday, according to evidence gathered by police, two youths attacked the fountain with hammers, breaking off several pieces including the snout, which could not be found. City culture officials, who have just begun attempts to repair the damage, said on Tuesday that the 15-cm snout has been found and can probably be reattached.
Gianni Borgna, the council member in charge of culture, said he was "extremely happy" about the news, adding that it meant the city would "get back one of its most significant monuments."
The white marble fountain is believed to have been produced in about 1518 by renowned sculptor and architect Andrea Sansovino. It is thought to have been inspired by Roman sailors' habit of making offerings to the goddess Isis, whom they saw as their protector.
Borgna insisted that the city council did all it could to protect the numerous artworks that fill its streets and piazzas, but he said guaranteeing 100% security was impossible.
It was a frustrating yet familiar scenario for Romans who love the many statues and sculptures that grace their city, reminding residents and tourists of its glorious artistic heritage.
Two months ago a stone bee, sculpted on a central Roman fountain by Italian baroque maestro Gian Lorenzo Bernini, became the latest victim of the city's statue vandals. The bee, one of three on the so-called 'Fontana delle Api' (Bee Fountain) at the beginning of the chic Via Veneto, was decapitated and its head was taken away, presumably as a souvenir.
Meanwhile, the council is waging an ongoing battle over the dozens of marble busts of famous Italians which stand in the nearby Pincio park. As fast as experts can clean and repair them, they gather new graffiti or lose their noses.In a high-profile vandalism case in 1997 two Romans splashing about in Bernini's famous Four Rivers fountain in Piazza Navona broke off the tail of a dragon.
