The ticket desk, near to the Colosseum, was closed for pest-control operations.
He said that rats were a problem all over the city and that a similar situation at Palazzo Massimo, which is part of the National Roman Museum, had led to a union protest. "It seems that the increase in rats (at Palazzo Massimo) was caused by work being done in Via D'Azeglio," Prosperetti said. "They told us that the vibrations scare the rats and they come out from under the ground. "We are investigating about the Roman Forum. The area where that ticket office is situated was not frequented by humans for a long time. "Big rats were the legitimate inhabitants of the grottos of the Temple of Venus".
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