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A German tourist has been arrested in Rome on Wednesday after being caught riding down the street on a rented electric scooter with the marble base of a Roman column on the footplate.
Officers saw the 24-year-old man transporting what he later called a “souvenir” on Via Vittorio Veneto, an upmarket street in the centre of the Italian capital near the Villa Borghese park.
The man was cited for possessing a “cultural asset of historical and artistic interest,” according to a statement from Rome’s Carabinieri.
Officers impounded the marble base and said it would undergo further checks to determine its place of origin.
It was not immediately clear how the man came to be in possession of the ancient artefact, which weighed around 30 kilograms.
The Special Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape of Rome has since authenticated the artefact and deemed it a cultural asset of historical and artistic interest, potentially belonging to one of the major archaeological sites in the Italian capital.
The German tourist has been reported to the public prosecutor’s office and accused of possessing stolen goods of cultural importance.
The investigation continues, authorities said.
