What would you do for the perfect selfie? Would you deface a landmark – one of the most famous historical locations in the world?

Two Californian women did.

The Guardian reports that security at Rome’s Colosseum caught the women, aged 21 and 25, shortly after carving their initials into the ancient rock. The two were apparently able to scratch a “J” and an “N”, each a few inches tall, and then snap a selfie before police caught on.

The authorities were tipped off by other tourists.

The two women could face penalties for defacing the site, as it is strictly forbidden.

Colosseo, incidono le iniziali sul monumento: denunciate due turiste americane http://t.co/EWgP0hMItj pic.twitter.com/k7c5PMyamp

— la Repubblica (@repubblicait) March 7, 2015

“There’s a difference in perception. Museums are treated like churches, sacred places where there are things of great value. Whereas the Colosseum is an incomplete building which has already been robbed,” a spokesman with the Special Superintendency for the Archaeological Heritage of Rome told The Guardian.

It’s just some old, crumbling rock, right? What’s the big deal?

According to The Daily Dot, the section the tourists carved up is part of a 19th-century papal restoration project. The specific part of the Colosseum, however, was first constructed in 80 AD.

Remember kids, try not to go full vandal for the sake of a selfie.