Dozens of people today at work to clean up the white marl cliff of Scala dei Turchi, in Agrigento, smeared by vandals with red paint.
From this morning the technicians of the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage of Agrigento but also numerous volunteers got to work: "The Sicilian Region - explains Governor Nello Musumeci - immediately activated, together with the Municipality, with its structures in the area, to put safely the Scala dei Turchi and clean up the damaged area, after the vile act of vandalism yesterday. From the Superintendence and Civil Protection of Agrigento I receive reassuring messages about the restoration of the cliff. The spilled red material is attributable to iron oxide in dust and fortunately this did not represent a big risk ". Then thanks to those who have dedicated themselves to cleaning: "I thank them all for the generous act of civility and scrupulous responsibility shown".
THE RAID - The vandals climbed the rock steps of one of the most beautiful and evocative places in Sicily, visited every year by thousands of visitors from all over the world, so much so that it was proposed for candidacy as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, splashing red on the immaculate promontory on the border between Realmonte and Porto Empedocle, the Vìgata of Andrea Camilleri's novels.
The carabinieri immediately started the investigations and the Agrigento prosecutor Luigi Patronaggio opened an investigation; the alleged offense against unknown persons is of damage to goods having landscape value. The Scala dei Turchi is in fact subject to landscape restrictions.
THE LITIGATION - The fact that powdered iron oxide was used, which can be easily eliminated with water, could support the hypothesis of a demonstrative gesture to rekindle attention on a controversial story. La Scala dei Turchi was in fact at the center of a long judicial dispute, which had also led to the seizure of the site by the judiciary, between the Municipality of Realmonte and the owner of some parcels, Ferdinando Sciabbarrà, as some documents prove in an irrefutable way. cadastral records that date back to the mid-19th century.
