A 51-year-old Scottish tourist was detained for aggravated theft after a guide spotted him slipping stones into his backpack during a night tour of the Pompeii archaeological park, according to The Independent. The guide alerted park management at Piazza Esedra and security, who called the Carabinieri. Officers intercepted the man outside the excavations near the Villa dei Misteri train station and found five pieces of paving stone and a fragment of brick in his backpack. The fragments came from the archaeological area buried by Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE.
The tourist admitted taking the objects and said he did not know it was prohibited. Investigators said he intended to give the stones to his son, who collects rocks. The tourist initially claimed “that his son had taken them because he collects rocks,” said an unnamed police spokesperson in Naples.
“Congratulations and thanks to the attentive tour guide, to our excellent custodians and security staff, and to the Carabinieri for this collaborative effort to protect our heritage,” said Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park. The recovered pieces were returned to the park.
The man was charged with aggravated theft and could face a summons for trial, with a possible sentence of up to six years in prison and a maximum fine of €1,500. Park regulations prohibit removing any object or fragment to preserve the site’s heritage.
In 2020, a Canadian tourist who had taken items from Pompeii 15 years earlier mailed them back with an apology, saying they were “cursed,” the woman wrote in a letter. She said misfortune plagued her family after the theft, and she returned mosaic tiles, a ceramic piece, and parts of an amphora.
Controls would be reinforced in the coming days due to the summer influx of visitors, said Alessandro D’Auria, the local Carabinieri commander, according to Corriere della Sera.
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