The artist who stole a mountain (or a bit of it anyway)

With the Elgin Marbles back in the news recently and the UK's outright refusal to return them to Greece, I was reminded of this story a decade ago.

Back in 2015, artist Ecuadorian-born Oscar Santillan put on an exhibition in a south London gallery. One of the pieces was a modest bit of rock. Unfortunately, the rock also happens to have been taken off the top of Scafell Pike - the highest peak in England at 3,209 feet. The rock in question was about one inch sqiare. But it means that the mountain is now one nch shorter and, incredibly, there were demands for him to put it back.

The artist defended his work, called The Intruder, saying his actions are no different from taking a pebble off the beach.  'Collecting a strange-looking rock during hiking is a very common sensitive thing we all do guided by our curiosity,' he said. 'I can honestly say that I have not harmed such a wonderful place in any way. What I have done is a small suggestive gesture that reflects on the way in which humans have imposed their cultural categories over nature. I am very respectful of nature and was deeply sad to see people leave so much of their trash behind which I did my best to collect on my way down.' 

The gallery's description of the artwork says: 'The artist has taken the uppermost inch of the highest mountain in England. An entire nation's height is modified and its landscape redefined by means of a single precise action. The artist explores the way in which human categories are imposed on nature: the largest, the tallest, the most powerful. 

However, Santillan was accused of  'essentially vandalising the mountain' (police found no evidence of this and no charges were brought) and many people got very angry. Ian Stephens, managing director of Cumbria Tourism, said: 'We are all aware that Cumbria's landscape has long has inspired generations of artists. These include international greats like J M W Turner, Ruskin, Schwitters and Li Yyan-chia. These individuals have all taken a piece of this landscape away in the figurative sense. This is taking the mickey and we want the top of our mountain back.'

It did also lead to calls of 'he who casts the first stone' from countries where artworks were removed during Britain's great age of Empire. Should they all be returned? Probably.

And if Santillan returned the rock to Scafell Pike would anyone have noticed?

Discuss.