Three armed men who attacked a Greek monastery have been arrested by police. The treasure hunters who broke into the monastery, tied up the monks in an effort to search for buried coins, not religious artifacts, with a mechanical digger.
They were caught on Sunday, Aug. 25, when a monk who avoided capture raised the alarm by calling the police before the digging could start at the Orthodox monastery of Agios Georgios, in Viotia prefecture north of Athens, which was rebuilt in modern times on medieval ruins.
None of the four monks who were captured together with the mother of one of them, were injured. Police said four other suspects are being sought and it’s believed the raid was months in the planning.
The three suspects arrested were taken before a prosecutor in Thiva on Aug. 26. Burglaries, robberies and financial crimes have risen in Greece the last three years during a crushing economic crisis that has pushed 20 percent of the population into poverty.
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