A French tourist was fined €1,000 (about R20,000) for stealing sand from a beach in Sardinia, Italy. The man, whose identity is unknown, was arrested at Cagliari Elmas Airport when trying to leave the island with almost 2kg of sand in his possession, according to CNN.
‘The bottle was confiscated and is in now in our operating room where we hold these confiscated items. At the end of the year we usually have many bottles of sand accumulated,’ a spokesperson for the island’s Forest Rangers told CNN.
The beaches on the island are protected by law.
The island’s sand is protected and taking it is illegal. These rules were implemented recently after increasingly frequent incidents where tourists were found with large quantities of the pristine sand for keepsakes or other reasons.
Taking sand can incur fines of up to €3,000 (over R66,495) depending on the quantity and the beach.
‘Last year we found a website that was selling our sand as souvenirs. It’s become a very known phenomenon here in Europe,’ the spokesperson added.
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