Belgian farmer accidentally ‘moves French border’ by shifting stone marker

A Belgian farmer risked triggering an international incident by moving an old stone boundary marker that has denoted his country’s border with France since the 1820 Treaty of Kortrijk.

According to the mayor of the Belgian town of Erquelines, David Lavaux, the bold landowner had underestimated the implications of pushing the historic marker back 2.2 metres (7.2 feet).

“Obviously, that increased the size of his property,” the bourgmestre said.

“What he didn’t realise was that the border had been precisely geolocated in 2019, so it was easy to prove that it had been moved.”

The discreet landgrab was spotted around a month ago by members of an association of history enthusiasts from the French side of the border.