Thieves steal section of Pompeii fresco

Vandals chip off 20cm section of fresco depicting goddess Artemis, adding to degradation of Unesco world heritage site

 

A custodian stands in front of the Modesto way, where last week the Artemis fresco was found to have been chiselled off. Photograph: Carlo Hermann/AFP/Getty Images

 

Reuters in Rome

The Guardian

 

Thieves detached and stole a section of fresco in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii last week, adding to the degradation of one of the world's outstanding archaeological sites after heavy rain caused sections of wall to collapse.
Officials from Pompeii's archaeology service said the thieves chipped off a 20cm wide section of fresco depicting the goddess Artemis from a site known as the House of Neptune and Amphitrite, which is not currently open to the public. Security at the site (left) has since been stepped up.
Police said news of the theft, which occurred on 12 March, had been withheld so as not to compromise their investigation of the case, which they described as "particularly delicate".
The latest theft occurred two weeks after sections of wall at the site collapsed during heavy rain, prompting the new culture minister, Dario Franceschini, to promise to increase maintenance work at the site.
One of Italy's most popular attractions, Pompeii was preserved under ash from a volcanic eruption in 79AD and rediscovered in the 18th century. It has become a symbol for decades of mismanagement of Italy's cultural sites after a series of collapses that have brought an international outcry. Reuters
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/18/thieves-steal-fresco-pompeii-italy