A 61-year-old Australian tourist trespassed the archaeological site of Olympia on Monday evening. She jumped over the iron fencing and entered the site without being discovered by anyone until early in the morning.
She spent all night long walking around the ancient statues untilĀ dawn. When the guard on duty approached the area early in the morning, he spotted the woman and asked her why she had entered the site and how. The Australian tourist apologized that she wanted to take some pictures of Olympia, an argument that Greek authorities have not confirmed or rejected yet.
No matter what they decide, however, illegal entrance and stay in any archaeological site is a crime under Greek law. But we could not say that this “crime” was really hindered by anything or anyone as there is no night guard in ancient Olympia even with June reaching an end.
The Ministry of Culture announced that it will have hired night guards by the end of next week but until then, the site remains unprotected. Leaving an ancient site unguarded during the night, especially after the robbery took place in the local museum almost two months ago, is of course a shocking or at least, unacceptable decision.
(Source: tovima)
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