Stolen Boat hits Rialto Bridge in Venice

A woman stole a delivery boat in Venice and crashing it into the Rialto Bridge and damaging a nearby marble balustrade. 

The woman, identified as an Italian of Tunisian background, initially attempted to steal packages from a traditional Venetian "topo" — meaning "mouse" — delivery boat moored near the bridge while courier operators were away, Venice police said.

Videos posted on social media showed a boat carrying parcels hitting the foot of the famous bridge on the Grand Canal.

Police arrested the suspect and she is due to appear in a Venice court. The fractured railing and three small columns will have to be replaced, but no one was injured.

The Rialto Bridge, a stone structure built between 1588 and 1591, suffered significant damage that authorities are still assessing.

"Restoration will be difficult, but not impossible," Giovanni Giusto, a marble cutter who oversaw a previous restoration of the balustrade in 2008, told Italian news agency Ansa.

Giusto said the priority is recovering all fragments, including those in the water, but added that some imaginative work will be required because not all pieces will be found.

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