World to tourists: 'Stop stealing everything!'

Travel guides and websites are filled with advice for tourists on how not to get ripped off when visiting the world’s great attractions.

But maybe it’s the attractions that need tips on not getting pilfered by tourists.

From pieces of the Great Wall to live penguins, travelers looking for unique souvenirs will stuff almost anything they can into their luggage.

The latest uproar over theft of a public attraction comes from Boracay Island in the Philippines, where the magnificent white beach sands are suffering “blatant extraction” at the hands of the kinds of tourists that give the rest of us a bad name.

Responding to the threat to its most valuable natural resource, local officials passed an ordinance last week that greatly toughens the existing law for being caught carting off sand or pebbles from the Philippines’ top tourist destination.

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As reported by the Manila Bulletin, the ordinance states that: “Boracay Island, a masterpiece of nature endowed by the Almighty with powdery white sand, is being gradually dissipated by man’s selfish interests without due regard to the consequences.”

The new penalty for first-time sand thieves in Boracay will be 2,500 pesos (US$60) or a prison sentence of not less than one month and not more than six months. Subsequent offenses will bring stiffer minimum penalties.
The new punishments may or may not work, but one thing is certain: greedy tourists will continue to commit selfish acts around the globe.

In June, The Telegraph reported that visitors in Italy have been pinching cobblestones, marble mile markers and mosaic pieces from ancient Roman sites.

Italian officials have reported an increase this year in cases of theft of Roman relics, with pieces of 2,000-year-old stone and other artifacts often discovered in travelers’ luggage at major airports.

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In April, the Daily Mail reported that three British citizens had been accused of stealing a penguin from an Australian marine park, though, surprise, a night of partying may have been involved in that absurd heist.

Exhausted but unharmed, the seven-year-old fairy penguin, named Dirk, was discovered and returned to his park home and mate, Peaches.

Officials and archaeologists in China have long been concerned about major destruction and diminution of large sections of the Great Wall due to casual looting.

Regrettably little, it seems, is off limits to the dedicated souvenir hunter.

Sourced: cnngo