We've all been tempted to bring a little bit of paradise home from our holidays. But the urge has backfired on a French couple, who are facing up to six years in prison for removing sand from a beach in Sardinia, where they had been on vacation. The Italian island's white sand is protected, and tourists face fines and even jail time for removing it from local beaches -- but the couple say they did not realize they were committing a crime.
Police in the northern city of Porto Torres found the sand while making routine checks on cars waiting to board a ferry to Toulon in southern France. They spotted some bottles filled with sand through the window of the car, and arrested the couple, a man and woman in their 40s, police told us.
Overall, 14 plastic bottles containing around 40 kilograms (88 pounds) of white sand were seized, police said. The couple were reported to a court in the city of Sassari for aggravated theft and they risk a fine of up to €3,000 ($3,300) and between one and six years' imprisonment.














