(ANSA) - Naples, May 18 - A sixth-century BC bronze relic
has been stolen from a show at the Pompeii archaeological site,
sources said Thursday.
The piece, a door ornament, was on display at the 'Pompeii
and the Greeks' exhibit at the site's Palestra Grande (large
gymnasium), the sources said.
The theft is thought to have taken place while the site was
open to the public.
Carabinieri police are investigating.
Massimo Osanna, the director general of the Pompeii
archaeological site, expressed dismay.
"In addition to being a gesture that injures Pompeii and
Italy's cultural heritage, even though it is not a priceless
piece, it hits me on a personal level and it was an area where I
had conducted the excavation myself," he said.
The piece, which has a diameter of 7.3 centimetres, was one
of four applied to a reproduction of an ancient door.
It was on loan from the southern city of Potenza's Dinu
Adamesteanu museum and its value for insurance purposes is 300
euros.
Osanna said "the stud, like the other three, was screwed into
the panel on show and covered by a transparent layer of
protection, such that the removal of the piece must have
required enough time to elude security controls" by the guards
on duty.
He said the building "is guarded during the day by ALES
security firm personnel and at night covered by
video-surveillance equipment, as well as being fitted with a
system of alarms".
The director of the Basilicata Regional Museum Hub, Marta
Ragozzino, voiced "solidarity to my friend and colleague Massimo
Osanna".
"Above and beyond its extraordinary Lucanian context, which
Osanna himself investigated and which the show on Pompeii and
the Greeks has finally unveiled to the public, the stolen relic
has modest value," she said.
"But a gesture of this kind leaves us incredulous and pained,
a gesture that attacks and wounds the cultural heritage that
belongs to the community and, when brought to Pompeii, the whole
world".
Sixth-century BC relic stolen at Pompeii (3)
Bronze piece was on show at site's Palestra Grande