Ananova:

A Bulgarian army officer has been arrested after he allegedly tried to smuggle a tank out of the country.

Major Alexei Petrov had reportedly stolen the WWll German Panzer IV tank from a military garrison in Elchovo, near the Turkish border.

Although worthless to the army the ancient tank is worth a fortune to collectors.

He was caught by secret service agents who had been tracking him for months and who discovered he had already managed to ship another similar tank to the West.

He was arrested along with two German accomplices, who it is believed had brokered a deal worth tens of thousands of pounds with war memorabilia collectors.