Finn risks jail after trying to steal moai's ear from Easter Island

Santiago - A Finnish tourist could face up to five years in prison after breaking an ear from one of Easter Island's world- famous, megalithic statues and trying to take the artifact from the Polynesian island, which is a Chilean territory. Photo taken from a moai, monolithic human figure carved from rock, located at the Anakena beach, in the Easter Island, 3.500 kilometers from the Chilean coast. Marko Kulju, a 26 year old Finnish tourist, removed one of the ears from this figure on 24 March 2008, to be taken to his country as a souvenir. EPA/POLICE HANDOUT

Photo taken from a moai, monolithic human figure carved from rock, located at the Anakena beach, in the Easter Island, 3.500 kilometers from the Chilean coast. Marko Kulju, a 26 year old Finnish tourist, removed one of the ears from this figure on 24 March 2008, to be taken to his country as a souvenir. EPA/POLICE HANDOUT The 26-year-old suspect allegedly knocked of the ear of the ancient stone figure, call a moai. When it fell, the lobe broke into pieces, and the man, reportedly a boxer, fled with it, the Chilean daily El Comercio reported Wednesday, citing authorities on the island. When he was arrested Sunday, the man apparently admitted that he intended to keep the ear as a souvenir. He is currently under house arrest in a hostel on the island, which has a population of 4,000. If found guilty, the Finn could be sentenced to up to five years in prison and fined 9 million Chilean pesos (about 20,000 dollars). The moai - which stand up to 11 metres tall and weigh up to 80 tonnes - are designated by UNESCO as a world heritage site. There are nearly 900 stone statues on Easter Island, where they were produced by Polynesian settlers starting 800 years ago. The writings of the indigenous Rapanui were lost when the island's population was shipped to Peru as slave labour in the 19th century. There, all Rapa Nui priests - the only learned men in the community who could still read texts that exist to this day - died. Island Mayor Pedro Edmunds said that the Finn should be released, and he accused the Chilean government of doing too little to protect world cultural heritage. Easter Island is about half the size of the Gaza Strip.