Piazza di Siena defaced with messages written in English.

Rome mayor Roberto Gualtieri has condemned as "unacceptable" the graffiti that appeared over the weekend in Piazza di Siena, the green area used for prestigious equestrian events in the Villa Borghese park.

The graffiti, written in English and Italian, includes a series of messages without any apparent connection to each other, including: "Meloni and the politicians are sick", as well as obscure references to 9/11 and the 1980 Bologna massacre.

The vandal also took aim at religion - "Islam is a lie, all religions are lies, the pope is demonic" - and wrote that gay people "have a mental illness".

Inaccettabili le scritte con cui sono state imbrattate le mura del galoppatoio di #villaBorghese. Abbiamo dato mandato di cancellarle immediatamente. Mi auguro che i responsabili vengano rintracciati e che simili comportamenti che deturpano la nostra città non si verifichino più.

— Roberto Gualtieri (@gualtierieurope) October 8, 2022

Announcing that orders had been given to remove the graffiti immediately, Gualtieri said he hoped that whoever was responsible for the episode would be identified and that "similar behaviour that defaces our city will no longer occur".

The graffiti style, including the eye symbols, bears a similarity to the infamous "Aliens Exist" slogan that was sprayed onto the Pantheon in July.

Photo Amici di Villa Borghese