Three looters who stole artefacts from the ancient city of Knidos in Turkey's western Datça district have been caught red-handed by police.
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| View of the archaeological site at Knidos [Credit: Expedia] |
Gendarmes acted on a tip-off, entering the looters' houses where they had hidden the artefacts with the intention of selling them on the black market.
The looters were detained by police for questioning but were then released without charge.
The artefacts that they had looted were given to the Marmaris Museums Directorate, where experts determined that they were 2,500 years old.
Following the operation, the local gendarmerie began a wide-ranging investigation into the looting and smuggling of historical artefacts in the district.
Knidos had an important place within the ancient Hellenistic world, donating a marble treasury building to the sanctuary of Apollo in Delphi. It was the first building in mainland Greece to have caryatid statues in place of columns.
Source: Daily Sabah [June 22, 2017]
