Two Dutch nationals have been arrested after they were found to have stolen pieces of fossils from the Petrified Forest protected by NATURA 2000 Network on the island of Lesvos.
The two were arrested while they were attempting to board a flight to Amsterdam from Levsos airport.
The fossil fragments were detected by inspectors of the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) during baggage screening, The fossils were not declared to Customs Authorities and no export permit for cultural heritage items had been issued.
According to an expert assessment by the Director of the Museum of Natural History of the Lesvos Petrified Forest, all of the fossils discovered during the inspection consist of detached sections of petrified trees, which originate – with certainty – from the protected area of western Lesvos, specifically from the Lesvos Petrified Forest area, which has been designated a protected natural monument.
The specific areas is protected by the NATURA 2000 Network.
Acting within the framework of summary proceedings and following a prosecutor’s order, the inspectors arrested the two passengers on charges of smuggling cultural heritage items.
In addition, the authorities confiscated the fossils, which will be handed over to the Museum and also seized a tablet device, two mobile phones and a camera.
The Petrified Forest is a petrified wood forest formed from the fossilized remains of plants and trees, which can be found in many localities on the western part of Lesvos.
The Petrified Forest was formed by successive volcanic eruptions which took place between 17 and 20 million years ago, covering a large part of the island in lava and ash. The earliest forests show the vegetation, at the time of formation was subtropical, which differs from the present day Mediterranean vegetation.
Finds include a 19.5 meter tree complete with some roots and branches and leaves, as well as, 150 fossilized logs.
I was in Meteora in 2017, and saw Ukrainian and Russian tourists taking pebbles out of the mountains. Για ευλογια, they were telling me. The nuns know all about it but can do nothing. Soon there will be no mountains left. Go and spend some money and buy a proper souvenir!
On the other hand, I was in Vergina and the GNTO shop had NO copies of the guide book for Vergina. They were “done for the year” (this was September). This is true of other sites I visited in that year. I wrote to complain to the then minister of Tourism, but no answer. You know that I’m going to say that this is unacceptable. (Oh, I was offered the Vergina books in German and Dutch! Or I could buy tourist books from other areas… The same happened at the Byzantine museum in Thessaloniki)
These people must be made aware of what they are stealing.
I suppose most of what they take will only be put in the rubbish bin at a later date .
Utter nonsense. A few tourists taking pebbles has little impact on massive sites. And serious people do not want “proper souvenirs”, they prefer something collected personally, not a fake Chinese-made artefact. You do not understand how capitalism functions: it is not there to satisfy your needs, but merely to make money out of you.
A few tourists? Sure. As long as there is no one there to say differently, this will keep happening. It really does not matter what site it is: if I can steal it, I’ll take it. I know perfectly well how capitalism functions, thanks. IF the GNTO shops had souvenirs created by Greek artisans and had proper hours they would offer a chance to combat the made in China dreck. But when those shops are empty, or in out of the way locations, across the street we go to the tourist stuff vendors. And of course I used hyperbole.
While we should all respect any archaeological site.This was a bit extreme! Far worse things are happening and there is nothing being done about it!