When in Rome, don¿t steal it! Italian police crackdown on people taking parts of the ancient city as souvenirs

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When in Rome, don¿t steal it! Italian police crackdown on people taking parts of the ancient city as souvenirs

June 24th, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

By
Nick Pisa

PUBLISHED:

15:49 EST, 24 June 2012

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UPDATED:

15:49 EST, 24 June 2012

Tourists looking for a souvenir with a difference are helping themselves to cobblestones and marble mile markers from ancient Rome.

Italian police say dozens of the square stones used by Romans 2,000 years ago to pave their famously straight roads, as well as broken pieces of mosaic and other artefacts are ending up in passengers hand luggage.

Security staff screening bags at Rome’s main airports have reported a surge in findings as X-ray scanners pick up the objects when luggage is screened.

Police in Rome have seen a rise in tourists stealing historic pieces from the city, which is home to the Colosseum, and are warning tourists not to take artefacts such as mosaics and stones home with them

Police in Rome have seen a rise in tourists stealing historic pieces from the city, which is home to the Colosseum

Rome police have put on display a vast collection of the stolen cobblestones and artefacts seized from passenger luggage in the first six months of this year.

The majority of those caught are ‘northern Europeans’ and several British tourists have been among those caught red handed.

Ancient romans used volcanic stone to make the cobbles for the roads that led away from the city and they date back 2,000 years.

Police chief Antonio Del Greco said: ‘It’s a particularly unusual theft and at the same time it’s one that we are finding is on the increase and happening more and more often.

Tourists are being warned not to take artefacts such as mosaics and stones home with them

‘Those primarily responsible are northern Europeans who have simply picked up a loose cobble stone or piece of mosaic they have found while wandering around Rome.

‘They then put it in their luggage and take it home with them as a souvenir of their holiday – we have also found large milestones made from marble in suitcases that have been taken from the Appian Way.’

Mr Del Greco said those caught were left ‘highly embarrassed’ but were not arrested, instead they were cautioned and allowed to return home and their ancient souvenirs returned to Rome council.

Stealing ancient Roman artefacts is not uncommon with tomb raiders regularly robbing 2,000 year old graves in countryside around the Italian capital in a hunt for items to sell to collectors.

In the past statues and busts dotted around Rome have been stolen from parks and streets, as well as a giant marble column while five years ago an entire statue of a gladiator was stolen from a villa.

Umberto Broccoli, superintendent of culture for Rome city council, said: ‘I should warn all tourists that the city’s rich heritage should not be touched. What these people do by stealing these items is show their ignorance.

‘If they want a souvenir of their visit then they should buy something from a shop.’