A French couple is facing years of jail time after stealing almost 90 pounds of sand from Sardinia.
A French couple are facing up to six years in prison for stealing sand from a beach in Sardinia.
The tourists had been vacationing in Chia, a beach in southern Sardinia.
When they arrived at the ferry en route to Toulon, France, their SUV was searched by Italian border police who found 14 plastic bottles filled with sand.
The couple claimed they wanted to keep the sand as a souvenir.
The pair was charged with theft under aggravated circumstance and now face up to six years in jail.
The island has battled for years to stop tourists from stealing its sand, shells and pebbles.
According to the BBC, some tourists bottle the sand up to then auction on online websites.
“The people of Sardinia are very angry with tourists that steal shells and sand, because it’s a theft (from) future generations that also puts at risk a delicate environment,” a police officer told CNN.
Some sand thieves do repent.
In 2016, a woman who took pink sand from Budelli, an island off Sardinia, returned it after 29 years.
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