A Scottish man is under police investigation after visiting the ancient city of Pompeii, in what could be the latest in a long line of examples of tourists behaving badly around Italy’s cultural treasures.
The tourist was accused of stealing five stones and a fragment of brick from the world-renowned archaeological site on Wednesday. In a statement on Thursday, the police did not name the 51-year-old man but said he “is in trouble” and under investigation for aggravated theft. Charges have not yet been filed.
Investigators described the case as a “perfect example of synergy” between a tour guide at Pompeii, site employees and a Carabinieri police unit stationed there.
While escorting a group of visitors through the site, a tour guide saw a man pick up “pieces of pavement from one of the streets of the ancient city” and put them in his backpack, according to the police statement.
It said the guide informed site employees and park security, giving a detailed description of the accused perpetrator. They, in turn, informed the Carabinieri police, who tracked down the tourist at a train station outside the site. The stones and brick fragment were found in the man’s backpack, the statement said.
The tourist initially said “that his son had taken them because he collects rocks and he didn’t know it was illegal to pick up stones in Pompeii,” a spokesman for the Carabinieri in Naples, asked not to be identified as is customary in Italy, said by phone.
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