He was going to sell a stone from the Roman aqueduct of Segovia online and they discovered him.

The Spanish Civil Guard has recovered a stone that was allegedly illegally removed from the Segovia Aqueduct and put up for auction on social media with a starting price of €1,000, according to the Segovia Command.

The agents discovered the advertisement on a trading platform where a private individual was offering an ashlar that he claimed belonged to the Roman monument, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985.

The announcement included images of the stone, measuring 25 by 22 by 15 centimeters and weighing 17.3 kilos , as well as its supposed location in the Aqueduct.

In addition, the seller offered small bags of granite shot , also extracted from the same monument, at a price of 49.95 euros for 15 grams.

The investigations led to the location of the person responsible for the offer and verification of the physical existence of the stone.

The man voluntarily handed the piece over to the Civil Guards who requested it, and the object has been deposited in the facilities of the Armed Forces in Segovia, pending certification by the authorities of its authenticity and determination of its original location in the monument.

The Segovia City Council filed a complaint with the Prosecutor's Office against the man for removing the stone from the famous Roman aqueduct and attempting to auction it off, which he explained as an act of protest against the alleged neglect of the monument.

The well-known monument, about 1,900 years old, is one of the most important in this central Spanish city , which is a World Heritage Site, along with the cathedral and the Alcázar.

The perpetrator of the theft, very active on social media and known for his obsession with the preservation of the Aqueduct, claimed that the goal was to draw attention to its condition and promised to donate the money raised to a cause chosen by the buyer.

However, as the city's head of Urban Planning and Heritage explained in statements to a local radio station, "the stone didn't fall from the monument; it was torn away."

Alejandro González Salamanca noted that the stone's original position is perfectly documented and confirmed that the City Council requested the citizen immediately deliver the stone to the Provincial Museum for its preservation and subsequent replacement. Furthermore, the Prosecutor's Office was informed in case it could be a crime against heritage .

" We are not willing to tolerate anyone touching the monument , damaging it, and much less uprooting and carrying away stones," González Salamanca emphasized.

The aqueduct dates back to the 2nd century and is one of the greatest Roman engineering works. It has 167 granite arches supporting stone blocks held together by mortar.

According to the Segovia Citizen Coexistence Ordinance, aggressive behavior against the monument, such as climbing it, removing objects, or intervening in its structure, is classified as very serious, with fines ranging from 1,500 to 3,000 euros .

At the same time, the Cultural Heritage Law of the region of Castile and León provides for much more severe penalties , which can reach 600,000 euros.