Where tourism meets cultural heritage

Reblogged from the NY Times (via Associated Press), April 10, 2008:

Easter Island: Statue Vandal Fined $17,000

< Chilean Investigative Police released this photo showing the damage to the right earlobe. (AP Wirephoto via CNN)

A Finnish tourist who chipped an earlobe off an ancient statue on Easter Island two weeks ago for a souvenir is being allowed to go home after paying a $17,000 fine and agreeing not to return for three years, the police said. At the request of prosecutors, he also wrote a public apology for damaging the 13-foot-tall moai, as the statues are known.

Previously reported more fully on CNN.com/World.