Charlie, world's smallest pony, found after theft in Italy

(ANSA) - Perugia, September 19 - Charlie, the smallest pony in the world, was found on Thursday after being stolen last week from one of the stalls of the national horse exhibition in Città di Castello, an Umbrian town in the province of Perugia. The pony, which is less than 60 cm tall and is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records, was swiped the evening before he was to be presented at the inauguration of the show. Someone cut the net of Charlie's stall and led him away to the edge of a tobacco field, where all trace of him was lost. The tiny pony belongs to Bartolo Messina, a breeder and equestrian who lives on the island of Ischia, near Naples. ''It was as if they kidnapped a member of the family,'' Messina said. According to initial reports, the pony was found in a secluded area 340 km north of the horse exhibition, in Peschiera del Garda, a town on the southern tip of Lake Garda, near Verona. No arrests have been made so far.