Easter Island fines statue vandal
(09 April 2008)A Finnish tourist who chipped an ear off an Easter Island statue has been fined.
Marko Kuju, 26, was ordered to pay US$17,000 (£8,500) and to stay away for three years.
Kuju, who could have faced seven years in prison, called the attempted ear theft "the worst mistake of my life" in an interview with Santiago newspaper La Tercera.
Police on the Pacific island said a woman had seen him chipping at the earlobe, which then fell to the ground and broke apart.