Tourist destroys legendary earlobe

by Rob Peters | March 25, 2008 at 08:12 pm

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My theory is he was trying to pull a Van Gogh to impress his girlfriend, but his art history was a little shaky.

The authorities on Easter Island have detained a Finnish tourist on suspicion of trying to steal an earlobe of one of the world-famous moai stone statues.

Police on the Pacific island, which is an overseas territory of Chile, said a local saw the man tear off the earlobe, which then fell and broke into pieces.

Marko Kulju could face seven years in prison and a fine if convicted under laws protecting national monuments.

The statues of Polynesian ancestors are believed to be up to 1,000 years old.