Egyptian authorities have arrested three men who tried to steal a 10-ton statue of Pharaoh Ramses II with a crane from the ancient southern city of Aswan, authorities announced Tuesday.
An Egyptian judge said in a statement that he had ordered three men to be detained for four days pending an investigation, accused of “attempting to steal a pharaonic statue” in the southern ancient city of Aswan. , 675 kilometers south of Cairo.
According to the statement, the police revealed that “three persons with hand excavators and heavy equipment, a crane, used in an attempt to lift the statue and excavate the antiquities in the area” were arrested.
The Aswan Antiquities Authority has proved the “antiquity”. [da estátua] and attributed to Ramses II weighing 10 tons”, added Egyptian Justice in the same note.
The public prosecutor’s office ordered the police to “immediately investigate other persons associated with the crime suspects”.
One of the most famous pharaohs of the 19th dynasty, Ramses II ruled for 67 years. He was known as a great warrior and a great architect who ordered the construction of temples throughout Egypt.
Over the past decade, Egypt has recovered some 29,000 antiquities that were smuggled out of the country.
