| Good morning, Illegal activity at Scotland’s cherished historic sites has risen over the course of lockdown given the number of people exploring often unmanned heritage attractions close to home. Digging at world-famous standing stones, breaking into castles, camping in historic grounds and illegal metal detecting were among the offences reported. Inspector Alan Dron, chairman of the Scottish Heritage Crime Group, said: “Over the lockdown period from April to June, rural crime fell by 39 per cent this year, fly tipping spiked and heritage crime also rose. It was one of the areas where we saw a significant increase. “Because people were staying more local, they were getting out to investigate sites close to where they lived.” Message from the editor While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you. With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription. Subscribe to scotsman.com and enjoy unlimited access to Scottish news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.scotsman.com/subscriptions now to sign up. Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website. Your feedback is really important, please email me with any comments and suggestions at joy.yates@jpimedia.co.uk Joy Yates Editorial Director JPIMedia Scotland | 
