Thursday, May 22, 2008

Henge Crimes

Vandals used a hammer and screwdriver to vandalise the Stonehenge ancient monument, the first such incident for decades. Those Druids, pissing everyone off!

The night-time attack by two men last week involved the central megalith in the 5,000year old ring of standing stones, and authorities believe the vandals could have been looking for a souvenir. A chip of stone about the size of a large coin was removed, while a 2.5-inch long scratch was left on the Heel Stone, at the centre of the site.

"Thanks to the vigilance and quick action of the security team at Stonehenge, very minimal damage was caused," said a spokeswoman. "A tiny chip was taken from the north side of the Heel Stone with a screwdriver and hammer, but as soon as the two men were spotted by security guards they escaped over the fence and drove off. It is believed they could be two men seen acting suspiciously on a previous occasion."

Stonehenge is one of the world's best preserved prehistoric monuments. In around 2,600 BC, 80 giant standing stones were arranged on Salisbury Plain, where there was already a 400-year-old stone circle. The biggest stones came from a quarry some 18 miles away, while some of the others come from a range of hills in southwest Wales, a 150 mile journey. Around two centuries later, even bigger stones were brought to the plain. Today, only 40% of the originals remain, which draws over 850,000 visitors annually to marvel at the stones.

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