Stricken Italy's looted obelisk damaged

Lightning has cracked and splintered the top of a 3,000-year-old obelisk stolen from Ethiopia in 1937 by Benito Mussolini's troops to glorify the conquests of his fascist dictatorship.

A two metre chunk of granite toppled from the 24-metre obelisk during a thunderstorm in Rome late on Monday. It shattered into dozens of pieces, prompting concern about the stability of the rest.

Repair crews who examined the damage yesterday warned that more could fall on the Piazza di Porta Capena, in central Rome. Police officers at the scene said it was a miracle no cars were hit.

The prefect of Rome, Emilio Del Mese, said a metre-long slab near the apex would have to be removed before it fell.

The monument originally marked royal tombs in Aksum. An Italian foreign ministry promise to return it to Ethiopia has been contradicted by the junior culture minister Vittorio Sgarbi, who added yesterday that the lightning strike meant it was now too fragile to move.