Or so it would seem if disheartening heraldic snippets in the Spanish press are any indication. The onetime home of the Marqués de Campo Villar, in the Bécares area of the Spanish province of León, has for decades lain in ruins; indeed the area seems to have become depopulated in the 19th century. Yet the armorial stone bearing the Marqués' arms clung to the façade of the Campo Villar manor house - until recently. Local newspapers report that the stone has been roughly removed, and taken a short distance away; it seems that the reporter was even able to suss out the stone's current hiding place, and photograph it prone on a pallet. Why? Who knows. Perhaps it's heading for eBay?
The most recent of the articles ends with reference to assorted ownership disputes in the surrounding area: Bécares being depopulated, the lands of the Marqués and the Municipality seem to have been divided three ways in 1961, part of the land used for agriculture, part as a private boar hunting reserve and part ceded to the nearest inhabited town. None of these claims however provide grounds for the wanton ignorance of Spanish legislation governing the protection of such heritage goods - yet there seems to be no will or means to properly enforce these laws or care for the items.
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