Uffizi chief presses for harsh penalties for defacing of Vasari Corridor columns; police ID suspects

MILAN (AP) — The director of Florence’s Uffizi Galleries is calling for stiff penalties against vandals who spray-painted graffiti on the exterior columns of the Vasari Corridor. The corridor connects the famed museum to the Boboli Gardens. Later on Wednesday, Italy’s culture minister announced that Italian police have identified the vandals. He gave no details. The Italian news agency ANSA said the suspects are two German tourists. The vandalism was the latest in a summer of high-profile acts of defacing Italian monuments. The graffiti appeared overnight on the side of the corridor that faces the Arno River. Uffizi director Eike Schmidt says the vandalism should be punished “with the hard fist of the law.”