Gawking at George Clooney is now a crime in Laglio, Italy, where the Oscar winner owns a villa on Lake Como.

Laglio mayor Roberto Pozzi told the Associated Press that he's issued an ordinance to raise fines to as much as 500 euros (about $550 USD) "for those who create 'problems of public order' when gathering to gawk on the main road behind the villa or approach by boat closer than 100 meters (110 yards) offshore." According to Pozzi, the fines, now five times higher than they were in the past, are in place to ensure Clooney and his new bride, Amal Alamuddin Clooney, privacy when they visit Laglio.

Clooney and Alamuddin haven't been to the villa since their September wedding in Venice, Pozzi told the AP. And according to the mayor, townspeople and tourists have generally been very respectful of the celeb's privacy in the past.

Per the AP:

The ordinances, posted around town, "aren't aimed at repression," said the mayor. "If a tourist wants to come by the villa and take a photo, that's OK." Instead, by raising fines, the town wants to discourage what he called "knots of people" from gathering and lingering, posing traffic dangers on the busy road.

And if you're visiting Laglio in the off-season, you have a better chance of snagging a fine-free photo (sans Clooney, anyway): The ordinances run through September, covering only the spring and summer period when the actor typically visits the villa.

[via: Associated Press]

Photo credit: AFP/Getty Images