I don't mean to side with "The Man" on this one, but having worked in a museum I see this B.S. all the time. We got this whole, "I didn't know I couldn't climb on the ancient artifacts and have a picnic and then graffiti on them." I've been to the Parthenon, there are about a zillion signs stuck everywhere about not taking, touching, or disturbing anything and they are in English, unless you were blind there's no way you could not see them. I don't think they overreacted, people tell me stories all the time about the appalling things they've done at archaeological sites. If they want to keep this stuff open to the public they are going to have to crack down and if that means making an example of someone, then that's just how it's going to be. I'd rather be allowed to go and see these places under heavy supervision than not be allowed in at all because others wrecked them.
'I wasn't warned,' says B.C. teen arrested in Greece
Last Updated Thu, 24 Mar 2005
CBC News
VANCOUVER - A Vancouver Island teen arrested in Greece says she was never told not to touch artifacts at an ancient site in Greece.
Madelaine Gierc spent two days in an Athens jail this week, charged with trying to steal an antiquity.
FROM MARCH 22, 2005: Greek court allows Canadian teen to come home
The 14-year-old student from Duncan, B.C., claims she was just picking up a rock on a path near the Parthenon to have her picture taken, when she was arrested, charged and jailed.
Gierc says she was never told about the rules at the ancient site.
"I didn't see any of the signs and we were never told 'Don't touch,' and I had no idea we couldn't pick up things on the ground and have closer looks," said Gierc.
But a spokesperson for the tour company, EF Travel, says there are many written notices at the Parthenon. Brent Ronning says his company also uses licensed tour guides who warn against touching artifacts.
"She really has to take responsibility for her own actions, but we do think that the Greek authorities overreacted," said Ronning.
Gierc was first charged with theft of an antiquity, a charge that carries a maximum 10-year sentence. That charge has been reduced to illegally possessing an antiquity and will likely result in a fine.
She will not have to return to Greece for the hearing.
CBC News
VANCOUVER - A Vancouver Island teen arrested in Greece says she was never told not to touch artifacts at an ancient site in Greece.
Madelaine Gierc spent two days in an Athens jail this week, charged with trying to steal an antiquity.
FROM MARCH 22, 2005: Greek court allows Canadian teen to come home
The 14-year-old student from Duncan, B.C., claims she was just picking up a rock on a path near the Parthenon to have her picture taken, when she was arrested, charged and jailed.
Gierc says she was never told about the rules at the ancient site.
"I didn't see any of the signs and we were never told 'Don't touch,' and I had no idea we couldn't pick up things on the ground and have closer looks," said Gierc.
But a spokesperson for the tour company, EF Travel, says there are many written notices at the Parthenon. Brent Ronning says his company also uses licensed tour guides who warn against touching artifacts.
"She really has to take responsibility for her own actions, but we do think that the Greek authorities overreacted," said Ronning.
Gierc was first charged with theft of an antiquity, a charge that carries a maximum 10-year sentence. That charge has been reduced to illegally possessing an antiquity and will likely result in a fine.
She will not have to return to Greece for the hearing.
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