In an episode to the limit of the incredible, a 24 -year -old German tourist he was stopped by the police in the center of Rome while transporting, with surprising ease, one base of ancient marble column aboard a Electric single -seater rental.
The episode, which took place near via Venetoimmediately attracted the attention of Carabinieriwho noticed the unusual load positioned between the young man’s feet on the platform of the vehicle. After stopping it for a check, it emerged that the object in question was a archaeological find weighing about 30 kiloswith dimensions of 40 × 20 centimeters.
According to the first reconstructions, the tourist has subtracted the column from an archaeological area, perhaps in the surroundings of Villa Borghesewith the intention of bringing her home as an original – how illegal – souvenir. The intervention of the Special Archaeological Superintendence of Rome, organ of the Ministry of Culture, confirmed the authentic nature of the artifact, classifying it as a cultural good of historical and artistic interest. The find was therefore therefore seized and will be the subject of further investigations to determine with precision the origin and evaluate whether he has suffered damage during unauthorized transport.
Risks up to 8 years in prison
The young man was reported for receiving cultural heritagea crime that can involve up to eight years of imprisonmentbeyond pecuniary penalties and, in serious cases, also theinterdiction at the future entrance in Italy. The Public Prosecutor’s Office is currently evaluating the boy’s responsibilities, who declared that he had taken the column “for memory“, Ignoring, perhaps (or perhaps not), the severity of the gesture.
An episode that can only raise questions about the safety of the Italian archaeological heritage and on the effectiveness of the surveillance in public places. If on the one hand the story has the almost comic contours of a film screenplay, on the other it underlines the real risk that the treasures of the past can end up in the wrong hands, even just for lightness or superficiality.
A case, that of the “thief on a single scooter”, which combines with the many scale made almost for fun on ancient columns or on the Colosseum and which shows how much it is necessary educate visitors to respect cultural heritagesymbols not only of a country, but of the whole Historical inheritance of humanity.
