Criminal charges were filed on Monday against two women arrested for at least three instances of vandalism at a same-number of Athens-area museums, in one of the more bizarre cases reported out of the "police beat" over the recent period.
Criminal charges were filed on Monday against two women arrested for at least three instances of vandalism at a same-number of Athens-area museums, in one of the more bizarre cases reported out of the "police beat" over the recent period.
The pair was arrested for allegedly applying cooking oil - reports differ on the exact type - on icons and religious artifacts on display at the museums.
A court trial on Monday on a charge related to damage of archaeological artifacts was temporarily postponed until a laboratory testing clarifies what type of liquid was used.
The two women were identified as Bulgarian nationals, 48 and 51, belonging to the Roma (gypsy) community in that country. According to police, one of the two women claimed she did not intend to damage the valuable icons on display, but was performing a type of religious "purification". The other suspect reportedly claimed she has no involvement in the case, save for accompanying the other woman on her museum outings.
The pair was arrested on Sunday in central Athens' National Historical Museum after guards noticed one of the women applying an oily substance to the wooden frame of a case containing clerical exhibits.