Couple takes sand from a beach as holiday souvenir, now faces 6 years of jail

ROME: That golden sand you thought of keeping as a souvenir on your dream foreign holiday can land you in jail. Something like this happened with two French tourists who were charged last week with stealing sand from a beach in Italy.

A French couple faces up to six years in jail for taking around 40 kg (88.1lbs) of white sand from the Chia beach on the southern Italian island of Sardinia.

Italian finance police said Tuesday they discovered the sand from a Chia beach stashed in 14 plastic bottles in the couple's SUV during a check as it boarded a ferry August 15 from Sardinia to France.


The couple told police they didn't know it was against the law to take the island's famed sand, which is protected as a public good. If found guilty, they face one to six years in jail for aggravated theft.

It's not clear when a trial may be held.

Italian finance police say the sand theft was one of the bigger revealed during a recent crackdown.

Italy had framed a law in August 2017 that made it illegal to take sand, pebbles or seashells from the Sardinian beach.

(Input from AP)