Finn who vandalised Easter Island statue fined over EUR 10,000

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A Finnish man caught defacing a Moai statue on Easter Island in the Pacific has been ordered to pay a fine of more than EUR 10,000.
     The fine is the biggest that the local Chilean court has ever imposed for a similar crime.
     
The local court on Easter Island also banned the man from entering the island for three years. He was also compelled to make a public apology for his action in front of the court.
     The Chilean Office for the Protection of National Monuments feels that the punishment was excessively lenient.
      "The Finnish tourist should have been given a prison sentence. It would have been a warning to other travellers", noted the director of the office, Oscar Acuña.
     
The 26-year-old Finnish tourist broke off a piece of the ear of a protected Moai statue last month.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finnish tourist detained after vandalising statue on Easter Island (26.3.2008)

Helsingin Sanomat