FARMER COULD THEORETICALLY FACE CRIMINAL CHARGES FOR MOVING 200-YEAR-OLD MARKER

A farmer in Belgium inadvertently changed geography by moving his country’s border with France. The farmer was driving a tractor and got annoyed by a large stone blocking his path. So he slightly moved it. 

The Franco-Belgian border, stretching 390 miles (620km), was formally established under the Treaty of Kortrijk signed in 1820 after Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo five years earlier. The stone dates to 1819, when the border was first marked out. 

A local amateur historian taking a walk-in forest near to the Belgian village of Erquelinnes discovered two weeks ago that the stone had been moved 7.5ft. The farmer’s fence had also been shifted. 

The move could cause a problem for private landowners – and neighbouring countries but people in both Belgium and France had a good laugh over it. 

Belgian authorities plan on simply contacting the farmer and asking him to return the stone – but if he does not, the Belgian foreign ministry could open a Franco-Belgian border commission, something that has not happened since 1930. The farmer could also face criminal charges if he does not comply.