A serial hoaxer is offering unsuspecting internet buyers the chance to own the Stone of Destiny for £1,000.
The mysterious Arbroath prankster, dubbed locally as Robert the Ruse, is selling what he claims is the historic slab on trading website Gumtree.
In his product description, the creative local electrician tempts prospective purchasers by stating the stone will allow them to “Vote independence and crown yourself King or Queen of Scotland!”
The 30-year-old also kindly offers free delivery anywhere in the Angus area.
When quizzed by The Courier, the cryptic trickster claimed to have carved the item himself as a replica and admitted he was behind a similar hoax that duped some news publications in 2008.
“I have not had anybody asking about it but I’m hoping they will. It is about encouraging people to vote for independence, and the chance to make some extra pennies.”
In June 2008, First Minister Alex Salmond caused a stir by suggesting the stone being looked after by Historic Scotland at Edinburgh Castle was a medieval fake.
Just a few months later the Arbroath hoaxer claimed to have found the “real” stone in a secret cave off the town’s coastline, saying he and friends used ropes and a steel beam to lift it out.
He insisted he discovered two caves in 2002 after reading an old history book about monks and their secret hideaways.
“Somebody will want it, I guarantee it,” he said.
A spokeswoman for Historic Scotland said: “We remain confident that all the evidence points to the fact that the stone on display at Edinburgh Castle is the same as the one held at Westminster Abbey for 700 years and the same one removed to the orders of Edward I in 1296.”