A tourist has been arrested after causing thousands of dollars in damage to a 16th-century statue in Florence when she tried to touch its private parts as a pre-wedding dare.

The 28-year-old woman, whose name and nationality have not been disclosed, was part of a bachelorette party when she climbed the Fountain of Neptune in the Piazza della Signoria, the city of Florence said this week.

Commissioned in 1559 by Cosimo I de Medici, Duke of Florence, to mark the marriage of his son Francesco and the Grand Duchess Joanna of Austria, the fountain is one of the city’s main tourist attractions.

It features a statue of the Roman sea god Neptune atop a shell-shaped carriage pulled by horses.

Officials said the unnamed woman was spotted by police as she climbed the structure to get out of the fountain.

The woman allegedly told officers that she got into the fountain by climbing over a railing and the edge of the basin, then onto the legs of the figure of a horse to avoid stepping into the water.

“Her intention was to ‘touch’ the private parts of the statue for a sort of pre-wedding challenge,” the statement said.

It was later determined the woman “caused small but significant damage” to the legs of the horses she’d walked on, as well as “to a frieze she had grabbed onto to avoid slipping”.

The cost of repairs was estimated at €5000 ($8200).

“The young woman was reported to the Judicial Authority for defacing an artistic and architectural asset,” the city said, adding that the woman is “to be presumed innocent until a final judgment by the Judicial Authority”.

It’s not the first time that badly behaved tourists have been linked to damaged to the fountain.

In 2023, a 22-year-old German man was accused of damaging it after climbing on it as two friends took photos of him.

The statue was also damaged in 2005, when someone climbed on it and broke Neptune’s hand. This prompted the authorities to install security cameras.

Florence in 2018 called for fines as high as €500 ($820) for visitors who eat on footpaths or in doorways at meal times near its landmark Uffizi Galleries.

Florence’s Uffizi Gallery has also fallen victim to unruly tourists. Photo: AAP

Last year, a gallery visitor damaged a priceless oil painting while trying to take a selfie, the museum says.

The unidentified tourist leaned against the Baroque artwork, Portrait of Ferdinando de’ Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany, by Anton Domenico Gabbiani, to take a photo – until the canvas gave way.

As well as Florence, the rest of Italy – particularly Rome – has been frustrated by its popularity with unruly tourists.

In 2019, Rome mayor Virginia Raggi presented a law banning bad behaviour – including eating or drinking or climbing on monuments, walking around partially unclothed and wading through fountains.

Frolicking in fountains was made famous by Anita Ekberg, who danced in the city’s magnificent baroque Trevi Fountain in Federico Fellini’s classic film immortalising Rome’s carefree spirit, La Dolce Vita.