Story By: Ana Lacasa, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
Two Russian tourists have been arrested for climbing onto the hill containing an iconic pre-Hispanic geoglyph called The Atacama Giant which represents a deity.
The Russian tourists, an unnamed brother and sister, were arrested after allegedly climbing onto the hill where The Atacama Giant is located in the Atacama desert, in Chile and charged with damaging a national monument.
Local media report the pair are accused of climbing up to the feet of the geoglyph, which is in a restricted area.
The prosecutor in charge of the investigation Hardy Torres explained that on 14th January, at around 10.45 am, workers in charge of the CCTV cameras of the municipality of Huara could see the two tourists had gone over the perimeter of The Atacama Giant, climbing up to the feet of the national monument.
The pair were arrested and prosecutors have now ordered precautionary measures such as banning them from leaving the country and having to check in with the authorities every month while the investigation is ongoing.
Torres also said in a press statement that there is footage taken by the police, which has not been released to the media, showing the footprints allegedly left by the suspects at the scene and the posters in the area, which are both in Spanish and English, informing that approaching the monument is banned.
It is unclear if the Russian authorities have commented on the case.
This incident took place a day after the arrest of six tourists in Machu Picchu, among them a Chilean man, for damaging a part of the monument and defecating in the citadel.
The Atacama Giant is an anthropomorphic geoglyph on the Cerro Unitas hill, in the Atacama desert, in Chile. It is the largest prehistoric anthropomorphic figure in the world with a length of 119 metres (390 feet), and represented a deity for the local inhabitants.
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