Italian man gets front yard surprise after dumping trash

By AFP March 21, 2024 | 07:13 pm PT

A coach is being returned to a man in Italy's northern province of Bergamo. Photo by Romano di Lombardia Police Department.

Police in Italy got the last laugh after identifying a man who had dumped two couches in a field -- thoughtfully returning them to him on his lawn, by dump truck.

Police in Romano di Lombardia near Bergamo in northern Italy released a tongue-in-cheek video Thursday as a public service message against illegal garbage dumping.

"Lost something?" read a title over footage of two old, dilapidated couches lying in a field at the side of the road.

The next shot showed the two couches tumbling out of a dump truck onto the perpetrator's lawn.

"The local police will find it and bring it back to your home," said the message, with "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" song playing in the background.

Police confirmed to AFP that the illegal dumping took place last week at night, with the couches returned to their rightful owner the next morning.

The man, who was identified via surveillance cameras, risks a maximum 10,000-euro ($10,900) fine to be determined by a court, police said.

"Home delivery is a striking but also highly symbolic gesture to explain we're not backing off on garbage dumping," Romano Mayor Sebastian Nicoli told the Corriere della Sera newspaper.

"The message for the sneaky is that they must not think they can do whatever they want at the expense of the community."