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Two young men arrested for foiled attempt to steal UEFA-2012 Cup

Two young men have tried to steal the UEFA Euro-2012 Cup that was put on public display on Independence Square in central Kiev on May 11

KIEV, May 13 (Itar-Tass) — Two young men have tried to steal the UEFA Euro-2012 Cup that was put on public display on Independence Square in central Kiev on May 11, the local media reported on Saturday.

At first the pair was simply posing for pictures near the future trophy on Saturday. Then, they took out a dark blue poster, wrapped up their booty into it and tried to escape. However, the police immediately detained the young men and returned the Cup to its place. A criminal lawsuit may be filed against the thieves.

The UEFA-2012 will kick off in Poland and Ukraine on June 8. Captain of the Soviet squad Igor Netto was the first to raise the Cup named after Henri Delaunay, the first General Secretary of UEFA who organized the first championship, over his head in 1960. Since then the trophy has been in the hands of eight European football teams.

British experts designed a new Cup which is slightly different from the original four years ago. The 30,000-euro copy is 60 centimeters high and weights eight kilograms. A team which was the last to win the Cup keeps it in a period between the championships. However, the Cup always returns to the UEFA headquarters in Swiss Nyon ahead of each UEFA champioship.