VENICE (Reuters) - The days when Venice tolerated tourists feeding pigeons in St. Mark's Square are over.
Starting on Wednesday, it's illegal.
The sale and distribution of grain to feed the birds is nowbanned, ending a tradition that attracted pigeons, and theirdroppings, to the most picturesque part of the lagoon city.
Fines for ignoring the ban start at 50 euros (39 pounds),the mayor's office said.
The vendors who sold grain to the tourists are now out of ajob. "Thanks Mr. Mayor for killing off our business after 100years of sales," read one banner.
Authorities say pigeons are eating away at the city'smarble statues and buildings by pecking at small gaps in thefacades to reach for scraps of food that were blown inside.
Cleaning up monuments and repairing the damage caused bypigeons cost each Venetian taxpayer 275 euros a year, one studyestimated.
"The monuments aren't being damaged by the bird droppings.They want to send them away, just like they want to kick usout, and we've been here for decades," one vendor told Italy'sANSA news agency.
"Sooner or later they'll even take away the gondoliers."
The battle against the birds is part of a broader campaignto improve decorum and cleanliness in the Unesco World HeritageSite which welcomes more than 1 million tourists a month.
Last year, stewards began patrolling St Mark's Square andother historic sites and can fine tourists found laying out apicnic, walking around bare-chested or dropping food wrappers.
(Writing by Phil Stewart; Editing by Robert Woodward)