After booking a stay in an inn in southern Italy, a same-sex couple was told by the owner that gay people were not allowed on his property.

Massimo Arcangeli booked a private guesthouse in Santa Maria in Calabria for him and his partner of seven years. After completing the online form, Arcangeli was contacted by the owner to swap details. But when the innkeeper found out the rental was for a gay couple he dropped a bombshell: "This is important and I don't want to appear like a troglodyte, but we don't accept gays or animals."

Arcangeli told The Local. "It immediately made me think of the famous message Nazis would post on their shop windows: 'No dogs or Jews.' Seventy years have passed since then and this story cannot be ignored."

Arcangeli quickly canceled their booking and sent screenshots of the conversation to Arcigay, an Italian LGBT-rights organization. Arcigay called for the home to be removed from reservation sites.

"We also look forward to decisive action being taken by the municipality, the Calabria region and authorities responsible for supervising and combating discrimination," a spokesperson said.

Correction: An earlier version of this story indicated Arcangeli found the inn on Airbnb. This was not the case. We regret the error.