Vandals have defaced the entrance to the Scala Sancta or Holy Stairs, a major Catholic site which draws pilgrims to Rome from around the world.Italian media reports said the entrance to the staircase had been covered in graffiti denouncing Pope Benedict XVI.
As well as insults against the pope, the vandals wrote letters and numbers written backwards before fleeing the scene in the early morning hours on Friday, reports said.
The walls of many of Rome's ancient monuments and Renaissance buildings are often covered in racist, anti-Semitic, and political scribble, as well as declarations of love or allegiance to a football team.
The phenomenon is so widespread that last year Rome mayor Gianni Alemanno pledged to make graffiti writers clean up their own mess.
Alemanno on Friday called the writing "the umpteenth example of imbeciles who try to attract media attention through an absolutely uncivil act that defaces the Holy Stairs, used by pilgrims coming to our city from all over the world."
In an amendment to its public safety bill approved by Italy's parliament last year, two-time graffiti vandals would face a possible jail term of six months to two years and fines ranging from 1,500 to 10,000 euros.
The Scala Sancta site has 28 white marble steps, where according to Catholic tradition, Jesus Christ stood on his way to his trial and execution more than 2,000 years ago.
The stairs were, reputedly, brought to Rome by St. Helena in the 4th century and pilgrims climb the Holy Stairs on their knees in a bid to honour the pain of Jesus Christ.
The stairs are attached to the Lateran Palace, next to the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, the former papal residence in Rome.
SIC: AKI