3 bikini-clad women take dip in Roman fountain, draw outrage

Fontana dell'Acqua Paola is among Rome's most treasured features, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

The fountain was built in 1612 at the behest of Pope Paul V.

Given its age and importance, the city would prefer it not be used as a swimming pool.

On Friday, TrastevereRM tweeted an image of three bikini-clad women frolicking in the fountain:

Accompanying the image was a message that, translated from Italian, read "It's very hot, but the fountain...can't become a swimming pool for tourists. Rome deserves more respect."

Many Twitter users agreed, and one even threatened to seek retaliation by taking a dip in one of the U.K. or Germany's historic water features, notes UPI.

Another remarked, "Tourist should obey the law and should not be jumping into this fountain. Can't understand why people ignore rules."

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