Two suspected of stealing sarcophagus

A PRICELESS sarcophagus, at least two thousand years old, was found in the back of a van stopped by Paphos police on the Coral Bay to Peyia road late on Friday night.

A government archaeologist yesterday said the confiscated stone coffin was of the Hellenistic period (325-30 BC) and was a “unique” find for the Paphos area.

Police say the sarcophagus-carrying van was stopped because it had been spotted “moving suspiciously”. The vehicle was found to have fake number plates and its driver, from Peyia village, was arrested on suspicion of tomb looting. Another man, from nearby Kathikas village, was later arrested in connection with the same case.

The stone sarcophagus is decorated with carvings of dolphins and bulls at its two ends and carvings of Hellenistic style columns along its sides.

The two suspected sarcophagus thieves were yesterday brought up before Paphos District Court and remanded for three days.

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