Moment Brits cheer as tourist tries to scale marble horse in Rome’s famed Trevi fountain before being tackled by bystanders and Italian cops

This is the moment Brits cheered as a tourist was tackled by Italian police after trying to climb the marble horse in Rome’s historic Trevi Fountain.

The fountain, located in the heart of the Italian capital, has been at the center of several incidents in the past year, including one in which eco-fanatics turned the water of the 262-year-old structure black in protest against oil subsidies.

Footage taken by tourists on Tuesday shows a man, who has not yet been identified, climbing over the metal barriers around the monument before sneaking around to the right side.

The 27-year-old Ukrainian man, wearing an all-brown tracksuit and green shoes, then climbed up the fountain’s travertine stone and made his way across the intricate stonework.

Italian officers were seen whistling at him to get his attention and calling him down from the 80-foot building.

A police officer can be seen rolling up his trouser legs to prepare to enter the water as the man continued to climb further up the stone.

A police officer is seen rolling up his trouser legs to prepare to enter the water as the man continued to climb further up the rock

Footage taken by tourists on Tuesday shows a man, who has not yet been identified, climbing over the metal barriers around the monument

After walking back and forth over the cascading waterfall built into the fountain, you can see him dipping his hands and head into the flowing water.

The police then managed to climb the statue, slowly pushing him backwards into a coffin and forcing him to make a quick escape.

As he is forced towards the main basin of the fountain, tourists can be heard cheering as he almost falls into the water, before taking a break for freedom by running towards the gap between police officers.

We then saw bystanders come to the police’s aid and stop him from jumping off and running free.

After his arrest, the Ukrainian man turned out to have no identity papers, local media report, and he was fined 1,000 euros. He was also banished from the city of Rome.

In May, climate activists in Italy were dragged out of the famous fountain after a protest against the continued financing of fossil fuels. They called the floods that killed fourteen people in the northeast of the country this week ‘a warning’.

Seven activists from the anti-climate change organization Last Generation climbed into the monumental fountain and poured a vegetable charcoal dye into it to turn the water black.

Seven activists entered the fountain at 11:30 am local time on Sunday

Environmental activists are removed from the famous Trevi Fountain by police officers

Hundreds of people visiting the fountain stopped to watch the protest before police arrived and began arresting those involved and escorting them away.

Protesters at the fountain on Sunday held banners reading “let’s not pay for fossils” and shouted “our country is dying.”

Police pulling protesters from the water confiscated the banners as tourists applauded or booed.

Activist Charlie, 18, said: ‘I am taking my first non-violent action of civil disobedience to get institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels.

‘Flood disasters, drought and extreme heat have caused me fear, anxiety and anger.’

They added that they expect to be punished for their actions by the Italian government, but said: ‘It must now be clear, however, that we are not the real eco-vandals; the real barbarians are those who continue to accelerate the environmental destruction underway in the coming years. mere economic profit.’