For years, one of the most unusual natural wonders in Macedonia was held hostage by two people. Now the court has cut it short: the squatters of Kuklica, the stone figures near Kratovo, will have to leave the site - voluntarily or with the police.

Kuklica, a protected natural monument that draws domestic and foreign tourists, was reportedly under the control of Stojna Dimitrovska Bud and her father Milosh for years. According to the claims, they charged entry to state land that is public heritage, and threatened those who refused to pay - throwing stones and setting dogs loose.

Kratovo's mayor, Todorche Nikolovski, was blunt: "The squatters will have to leave Kuklica voluntarily or by force," and hand the site over to the competent institutions. If they refuse, police intervention will be requested. Criminal charges for property usurpation have been filed against the two, and Stojna is also charged with threatening tourists.

Still, the story has a bitter subtext. The municipality claimed for years that it couldn't secure access to its own protected monument, and the official court documentation still hasn't reached Kratovo's legal representative - a first-instance verdict exists, but the case isn't final. How do two people get to charge entry for years to something that belongs to all citizens, while the institutions just shrug until now?

Kuklica was formed by millions of years of erosion. It's a disgrace that the bureaucracy needed years to return it to the public - nearly as long as it took nature itself to carve the figures.