Eco-vandals in  are set to be fined up to £50,000 under a new bill that came into law on Thursday in a bid to stop disruptive environmental protests.

The move comes after climate activists targeted a string of well-known monuments in the European nation in recent years, as well as blocking roads.

It also came after a judge on Wednesday indicted three members of Italy's Ultima Generazione (Last Generation, or UG) climate activism group.

This was after they sprayed orange removable paint over Maurizio Cattelan's L.O.V.E., a sculpture in Milan of a hand with its middle finger raised, last year.

The law aims to stop such protests, giving officials the power to levy fines of between 20,000 euros (£17,000) to 60,000 euros (£50,000).

Eco-vandals in Italy are set to be fined up to £50,000 under a new bill that came into law on Thursday in a bid to stop environmental protests

Last year, climate activists waded into the waters of Rome's world-famous Trevi Fountain and poured in a black liquid to symbolise oil

Like in the UK and other countries, UG have carried out a series of controversial acts of civil disobedience.

Their goal has been to draw attention to the climate crisis, and have done so through big stunts targeting national monuments or by stopping traffic.

Other instances have seen them pour paint over - or gluing themselves to - famous pieces of art in order to provoke a reaction from the public.

In the case of Maurizio Cattelan's L.O.V.E. sculpture, three people aged between 23 and 29, poured orange paint over the stand on which it is displayed.

Cattelan himself wrote to the lawyers of the defendants, saying that the stunt had not ruined the artwork (commonly known as the finger).

The 63-year-old artist said he did not feel 'offended or harmed'.

However, other stunts have provoked more angry reactions from the public.

Also last year, climate activists waded into the waters of Rome's world-famous Trevi Fountain and

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'Our country is dying,' they shouted after unfurling a banner, as tourists visiting the monument took photos, cheered and booed.

Environmental activists were removed from the famous Trevi fountain by police officers in May

Extinction Rebellion activists turned Venice's canals green in December in a protest over what the group said at the time was a lack of progress at climate talks during Cop-28 in Dubai

While the group said the liquid was carbon based and would not damage the fountain, Rome's mayor said regardless, the city would have to throw away the 300,000 litres of water circulating the Trevi Fountain and replace it.

The group has also hurled paint at Milan's famous La Scala opera house, food at the glass protecting iconic paintings, and sprayed the Italian Senate with orange paint.

Its members have also blocked traffic, infuriating motorists.

Several videos have shown the activists sitting across the middle of busy roads, causing long traffic jams during morning and afternoon rush hours.

This has invariably led to members of the public taking matters into their own hands, ripping banners out of the activists' hands and dragging them off the road.

In October irate motorists repeatedly kicked and .

Around 20 'Ultima Generazione' - translated as Last Generation - activists blocked a road, drawing the anger of several drivers left stuck in the resulting traffic.

Footage showed several activists sitting on a crossing point over the multi-lane road at a busy intersection, causing chaos for drivers during rush hour by linking hands and holding up an orange climate emergency banner.

Several drivers, furious at the protesters for blocking their way, got out of the cars and banded together to carry them off the road in shocking scenes caught on video.

Other climate activist groups have also been active in Italy.

In December, protesters from Extinction Rebellion , in protest over what they said at the time was a lack of progress at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai .

Activists from the group were seen dangling from the Rialto Bridge over the canal with the aid of hard hats and climbing ropes, while displaying a banner that read: 'COP28: While the government talks, we are hanging by a thread.

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And in 2022, Italian eco-zealots at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. 

That same year,  that was on display in Milan's Fabbrica del Vapore art centre.

Groups in the UK, like Just Stop Oil, have employed similar tactics in recent years.

In one instance, an activist cable-tied himself to the goal posts during a football match at Everton FC's Goodison Park, provoking an angry reaction from the crowd.

Just Stop Oil protesters are seen spraying a University College London building with paint

Environmental activists from Just Stop Oil slow march from Trafalgar Square in central London as they continue their latest round of protest actions against fossil fuels in London, United Kingdom on November 20, 2023

Activists from Extinction Rebellion hang from suspension cords beside a giant banner that reads 'End fossil fuels now', as they stage a protest on Tower Bridge, east London, which has been closed to traffic. Picture date: Friday April 8, 2022

In another, two Just Stop Oil activists - including Phoebe Plummer - threw soup over Vincent Van Gogh's masterpiece 'Sunflowers' at London's national gallery.

Fortunately, the painting was protected by a glass shield.

for another incident in which she slow-marched in London, causing disruption to traffic.

Just Stop Oil protesters have also spray painted buildings including London's Metropolitan Police's Scotland Yard and an Aston Martin car showroom.