Campaigners fighting to save the Punic necropolis of Tuvixeddu at Cagliari in Sardinia from building developers have taken their case to the European Union. Tuvixeddu which means "hills with small cavities" in the Sardinian language contains thousands of Phoenician and Punic burial chambers from the 6th century BC. It has long been robbed of funerary objects, but some of its tombs retain their original paintings, including Ureo's Tomb, named after a sacred serpent, and The Warrior's Tomb, depicting a warrior throwing a spear. The Sardinian regional government took issue last year with the Cagliari municipal authorities for allowing builders to encroach on the site to the point where "one of the most precious heritages of mankind is under threat" by issuing permits for the construction of 50 six-storey blocks of flats on the edge of the necropolis. The Cagliari council insists that its plan includes not only housing but also the creation of an "archaeological park and museum". However, Maria Paola Morittu, of the heritage organisation Italia Nostra, said the building development would alter further an ancient landscape that had already suffered greatly. Michel Delebarre, first vice-president of the EU Committee of the Regions and a former French government minister, told conservationists from Cagliari who made their case in Brussels: "I do not understand how anyone can think of damaging a patrimony of this value." He said it was absurd that the Sardinian campaigners had had to take their battle to the European level because the local authorities on the island had failed to resolve the issue. Graziano Milia, president of the province of Cagliari, said that "it may seem strange, but if the inhabitants of Tunis want to know more about Carthage they have to come to Cagliari, because we have the most important Phoenecian-Punic site in the world". He said that the conservationists' aim was "to draw the attention of the European press to the plight of Tuvixeddu, which is not being properly protected and is in danger of disappearing". Ugo Cappellacci, leader of the regional government, agreed it would be "criminal to destroy Tuvixeddu". He said that the authorities were seeking a compromise and it had yet to be established whether there were still remains of the necropolis to be discovered in the area where construction work was being carried out. He also said that experts who had examined the site did not agree on this. However, campaigners said that since developers were given the go-ahead nine years ago, hundreds of hitherto unknown tombs had come to light. The Phoenicians founded the town of Karali, now Cagliari, in the late 8th century BC and early 7th century BC. In the 6th century BC Carthage took control of the city, which became a hub in the Mediterranean, and the necropolis on the hill of Tuvixeddu took shape. In the 3rd century BC, with Rome's victory over Carthage, Sardinia fell under Roman rule, but the hill continued to be used as a burial site.