Easter Island vandal pays price

A tourist who chipped an earlobe off an ancient Moai statue on Easter Island has been allowed to go home after paying a €10,600 fine and agreeing not to return for three years.

Finnish Marko Kulju, 26, deposited the money into a bank account overseen by the court that handled his case.

He was also made to write a public apology for damaging the figure, one of 400 statues carved out of volcanic rock between 400 and 1,000 years ago to represent deceased ancestors.

The statues are protected by Chilean law.

Kulju was taken into custody after being caught trying to steal a piece of the Moai’s ear as a souvenir two weeks ago by a local Rapanui woman, who reported him to police on the South Pacific island.

Kulju called his attempted theft “the worst mistake of my life.”