Dozens of the square stones used by Romans 2,000 years ago to pave roads are ending up in passengers hand luggage.
Security staff screening bags at the Italian capital’s main airports at Fiumicino and Ciampino have reported a surge in findings as x-ray scanners pick up the objects when luggage is screened and they in turn call police.
On Sunday, police in Rome put on display a vast collection of the cobblestones and artefacts that they have seized from passenger luggage in the first six months of this year.
The majority of those caught are “northern Europeans” and several British tourists have been among those caught red handed and left embarrassed in front of other passengers when items are pulled from their luggage.
Ancient Romans used volcanic stone to make the cobbles for the roads that led away from the city and they date back 2,000 years.
