ROME — Retired traffic officers at Rome’s Trevi Fountain are working to keep tourists on good behavior.

The Italian city’s mayor signed an order last month aimed at protecting Trevi and some 40 other historic fountains. The order prescribes stiff fines for climbing, sitting or eating on the monuments.

Several former police officers started shooing tourists off the stone rim of the Trevi Fountain on Tuesday. They reminded people not to eat there and to keep an open path through the crowds.

Earlier this year, a man swam naked in Trevi Fountain. Soccer hooligans damaged a Baroque fountain near the Spanish steps.

The city says the volunteer officers will stand vigil from 9 a.m. until midnight until mid-October. Authorities will decide after the peak tourist season wanes whether to make the fountain patrols permanent.

Associated Press