Stojna D. from Kratovo spent years behaving as though she owned something that was never hers. The stone dolls at Kuklica are not private property. They are a protected natural monument - a geological formation millions of years old, still listed among the most recognisable pieces of natural heritage in the country. She was charging tourists an entrance fee anyway, as if she ran a parking lot outside her own front gate.

The court ordered her detention at the request of the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Kumanovo. The charge is not only about illegal fees. During the latest incident the 41-year-old physically attacked police officers who were trying to identify and detain her. The offence she is charged with is "obstructing an official in the performance of official duties" under Article 382 of the Criminal Code, on top of the ongoing case for continued criminal usurpation.

The ban existed. Nobody enforced it.

This is the part that stings. Proceedings against her were already under way, and the court had imposed precautionary measures - including an explicit ban on visiting the site. In its official filing, the prosecution states that she "avoids accepting and complying with the ruling". In other words: the state wrote a piece of paper, and the woman carried on collecting entrance fees as though nothing had happened.

How long does a ban need to sit there before it means something more than a stamp on a document? Back in June the Municipality of Kratovo confirmed that the site was "unlawfully and baselessly usurped" by the association "Izvor" and by private individuals who, according to its statement, exercised unauthorised control, claimed rights that were not theirs, and profited illegally from ticket sales - while endangering visitors' safety through intimidation and threats involving dogs.

So everything was known. Since June. With names, with a description of the offence, with official confirmation from the municipality. It took another two months and a physical assault on police officers for the system to finally respond with detention.

The stone dolls are one of those places Macedonia puts on postcards and into tourism campaigns. In practice, until yesterday, the entrance was guarded by someone with no legal connection to the site whatsoever. The question is not why she did it - that much is obvious. The question is why she was able to for so long.