NORTHUMBERLAND, ENGLAND—Evidence of illegal digging has been found at a center section of Hadrian’s Wall, constructed in the second century at the edge of the Roman frontier. The police and officials from English Heritage suspect that metal detectors were used to look for artifacts because of the discoveries that have been made at the nearby site of Vindolanda Roman fort. “The trust deplores the illegal use of metal detecting,” Patricia Birley, director of the Vindolanda Trust, told The Telegraph. Volunteers have been recruited to patrol and inspect stretches of the wall for signs of damage. “The objects they are stealing belong to the landowner, in this case the National Trust, and the history they are stealing belongs to all of us,” said Mark Harrison, English Heritage national crime advisor. To read more about metal detecting in England, see “Heads Won, Tales Lost.”
