Average Egyptians have been destroying cultural artifacts – to the point that a pair of mummies last week were found in a sewer and were so damaged that they could not be properly restored.

The two mummies, from the Greco-Roman period, were found wrapped in layers of linen and covered with sewage. Within the layers only a few remnants of the bodies remained, the Egyptian paper al-Masry al-Youm reported.

The Egyptian Antiquities Ministry said that the mummies were found in a small city near Minya, in northeastern Egypt, 150 miles (250 km) south of Cairo on the western bank of the Nile.

This isn't the first time that new mummies have been found in different places in Egypt. They're found quite often.

Remnants from Egypt's glory years centuries ago pop up from time to time. Even now, experts are unsure of what and how much of Egypt's past remains buried.

The sarcophaguses in which the police found the mummies were floating in sewer water and were crumbling, the ministry reported.

Nonetheless, the agency said that the sarcophagus covers were ornamented with women's faces in different colors, and the contours of the women's faces are clearly visible.

Press reports say that the ministry said the graves were discovered in the course of what appeared to be illegal digging by local residents.

Because of strict safety regulations, the residents decided to dispose of the mummies in the sewers, even though they were aware of the artifacts' value, the ministry said.