Thou shalt not steal, but souvenirs are another matter

Nearly one in ten Bibles placed in hotel rooms by the Dutch Bible Union is stolen, the organisation said in its 2005 annual report, just released. The Union, formerly known as the Dutch Gideons, has been putting a total of 160,000 Bibles in rooms since 1946. Every year 15,000 Bibles are distributed, and 1,200 disappear into guests' bags along with shower-caps and squares of soap.

"Of course it's not the intention that people take the Bibles away," a spokesman said. "But if they do, that means they want to read them."

The 20th chapter of Exodus in particular, presumably.