Three people have been arrested in Egypt for attempting to steal a thousand-year-old statue of Pharaoh Ramses II weighing 10 tons, AFP news agency reported.
The criminals were caught in a quarry south of the city of Aswan. With the help of a crane, they planned to lift the statue and take it away and also intended to unearth other artifacts in the province of Aswan.
In Egypt, offenses related to illegal excavations are severely punished by law. Now attackers face up to 25 years in prison and heavy fines.