A tourist who tried to take an Italian marble artefact from a Roman column on the back of his electric scooter has told police he was just looking for a souvenir from his holiday.
Police in Rome say they apprehended the 24-year-old from Munich, Germany, as he drove his Lime scooter down one of the city’s busiest streets in the middle of the day. The 30kg marble base was resting on the scooter’s footplate.
When the suspect was approached, he reportedly told the arresting officers he had only wanted a “souvenir” from his trip. The 24-year-old had already been in Tuscany and after a brief stay in Rome, he continued his journey to Naples.
The man was arrested for possessing a “cultural asset of historical and artistic interest”, according to a statement from Rome's Carabinieri.
“Last afternoon, the Carabinieri of the Operations Unit of the Carabinieri Company Rome Center, passing through via Vittorio Veneto, noticed a young foreigner who was traveling along the road on a rented scooter, on whose platform, between his feet, he was carrying the base of an ancient marble column (40 x 20 cm in size / weighing approximately 30 kg),” the statement read.
“From immediate checks at the Special Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape of Rome of the Ministry of Culture, [the marble] was found to be classifiable as a ‘cultural asset of historical and artistic interest’.”
They added that the man was reported to the Public Prosecutor's Office and accused of possessing stolen goods of cultural importance.
The marble has been impounded, set to undergo further checks to determine its place of origin. It is not clear how the tourist ended up with the marble.
It is not the first time tourists in Italy have run into trouble for taking historical artefacts.
In 2020, a tourist from the US sent back a piece of ancient rock she took while in Rome along with a note of apology.
Identified as “Jess”, the woman said she was sorry “for being such an American a**hole” and for behaving in an “inconsiderate and disrespectful” way.
The chunk of marble, believed to have possibly come from the Roman Forum, was sent to the Museo Nazionale Romano from Atlanta, Georgia.
“I would like to return this rock to its rightful place," read the note that accompanied it.
"Please forgive me for being such an American a**hole. I took something that was not mine to take.”
