The environmental group Greenpeace is apologizing to the people of Peru for trampling all over one of the world’s great mysteries for one of its media stunts.  Activists placed Greenpeace slogans next to the Nazca Lines, enormous depictions of animals carved into the desert some 1,500 years ago.

The activists apparently wanted to get the attention of the UN Climate Talks in Lima.  So they trespassed onto the UNESCO World Heritage Site and laid down big yellow cloth letters reading “Time for Change!  The Future is Renewable” next to the Hummingbird.  The problem is, the site is extremely sensitive and the activists knocked the rocks out place.

“Rather than relay an urgent message of hope and possibility to the leaders gathering at the Lima UN climate talks, we came across as careless and crass,” said a Greenpeace spokesman.  Peru’s vice-minister for culture Luis Jaime Castillo accused Greenpeace of ignoring what the Peruvian people “consider to be sacred”.

Access to the Nazca Lines is extremely limited.  Even government ministers are rarely allowed to go there, and when they do they hare given special footwear to use for fear of damaging the site.  Violators could be jailed for six years, and the Peruvian authorities are looking at the Greenpeace video to determine who should be held to account.  At the very least, the Peruvian government is planning to sue Greenpeace.