BUSTED:
Teens vandalize ancient citadel for holiday ‘paint party.’ Israel Antiquities Authority gives high school students 48 hours to come forward before pressing charges.
Israeli high school students vandalized an ancient citadel in the coastal city of Ashdod during the Passover holiday this week.
The Israel Antiquities Authority on Wednesday said the 1,300-year-old citadel dating to the early Islamic period was defaced by colored paint leftover from a “paint party” thrown by a local high school. The damage is reversible, however, the IAA indicated.
Pictures of the party were uploaded to social media, allowing IAA investigators to identify the students responsible.
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I suppose we should file this one under stupid teenage high spirits rather than anything worse. Presumably they would not have posted photos on social media if they had realized that they had committed a crime. Still, they deserve to have their little hands smacked and to have the fear put into them.
News Israel Today has a
follow-up report (HT Joseph Lauer):
On the evening of 27 April, the 0404 website.co.il reported that the father of one of the pupils who participated in the «party of colors» in the fortress Ashdod Yam, contacted the antiquities authority.
The man apologized for the incident. He said that his daughter and her friends were not aware that their actions cause damage to this historic structure. He expressed hope that this incident caused a great resonance, will serve as an example to other Teens.
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Yes. Now hand them some brushes and set them to work cleaning up. The IAA seems to have handled this well.