Scottish tourist caught stealing stones from Pompeii site
According to officials, a tour guide saw the man pick up stones from the pavement from one of the ancient city's streets near the Basilica and put them in his backpack.
Security was immediately alerted, and the Carabinieri were notified.
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The man was located shortly thereafter outside the UNESCO World Heritage Site near the Villa dei Misteri EAV station, the site said.
The artefacts were then recovered and returned to the archaeological site, officials added.
Commenting, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, Director General of the archaeological park in Pompeii, said: "Congratulations and thanks to the attentive tour guide, to our excellent custodians and security staff, and to the Carabinieri for this collaborative effort to protect our heritage."
Local Carabinieri commander Alessandro D'Auria also said that controls will be reinforced in the coming days due to the high influx of visitors during the summer.
Pompeii is the only archaeological site in the world to provide a complete picture of the ancient Roman city and one of the most important and most visited cultural sites worldwide. After its discovery and excavation begun in 1748, later in 1997 the site was inscribed in UNESCO World Heritage List together with Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata (Oplontis).
The main forum is flanked by a number of imposing public buildings, such as the Capitolium, the Basilica and temples and within the city there are also many public bath complexes, two theatres and an amphitheatre.
Pompeii, alongside Herculaneum and villas near the Bay of Naples, were buried by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in August 79 AD.
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