A dismissed tourist guide has been arrested for vandalizing a UNESCO World Heritage site in the Libyan Sahara, on the Algerian frontier known as Tadrart Acacus in mid-April. Seven cave paintings from the Neolithic era, dating back to a period between 3,000 and 10,000 years ago, were vandalized with tins of spray paint. "The red, black and white graffiti written in spray paint consists of abuse addressed to the Libyan government and against Italians'', says Juma Anag, the head of the Department of Archaeology.

A mission from the department, together with colleagues from the Italo-Libyan Archaeological Mission from Rome's La Sapienza University, under Professor Savino di Lernia, will be visiting the sites over the coming days to assess the extent of the damage. According to Seif Al Islam Al Gheddafi, a passionate archaeologist and president of the charitable foundation which bears his father's name, the formation of a special commission of archaeologists, security experts and frontier tourist police is already in hand with the objective of affording the country's archaeological sites, especially those in the remote desert, an efficient system of protection as soon as possible.

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