In his quest to get hold of a brand new iPhone, a teenager from the Netherlands has been arrested for attempting to steal a priceless artefact from the ancient city of Pompeii.

The tourist took a Roman roof tile from a site currently being renovated. He then put it in his backpack and tried to smuggle it past authorities — only to be stopped by police after an American tourist witnessed what was going on.

According to the teenager, his plan was to sell the ancient roof tile on eBay and use the money to buy the “latest iPhone,” which presumably refers to either the iPhone 6 or upcoming 6s.

Unfortunately, in his case crime really doesn’t pay. Although the artefact he stole is technically priceless, this is more to do with the fact that it’s actually relatively valueless — in other words, probably not the kind of relic he was after.

“A simple terracotta tile actually has a very low value, we don’t even trade them,” Roman artefacts dealer Carole Elena told The Local newspaper. Elena says that being from Pompeii, the tile may have a bit more value but, at best, would only fetch around $600 to the right buyer.

The craziest part of the story may be the fact that this isn’t the dumbest thief looking to get his hands on an Apple device that we’ve heard about. Earlier this year, a 21-year-old was arrested in China for trying to broker a crystal meth deal in order to pay for an Apple Watch.

Yep, that’s exactly the kind of story that wins you major respect in prison!

Source: News.com.au