Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe BITTI, Italy, July 13 (UPI) -- A Sardinian town retaliated against Prince Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy for anti-Sardinian slurs Thursday by declaring itself a "Savoy-free zone." The council in Bitti decreed that no future roads, squares or other public places are to be named after any member of the House of Savoy, the Italian news agency Ansa reported. Those already bearing Savoy names are to be rechristened in honor of "patriotic Sardinians," defined as people who died opposing Savoy rule. Advertisement The prince's ancestors ruled Sardinia for more than a century and went on to rule Italy after unification in the late 19th century. Vittorio Emanuele is the son of the last king of Italy, who was ousted after World War II and sent into exile. Italian investigators picked up his anti-Sardinia remarks on wiretaps during an investigation into vice and corruption in connection with a casino. The prince -- apparently angry with the quality of repairs to his yacht at a Sardinian boatyard -- called residents of the island "stinky" and "pieces of (excrement)." His wife apologized for his remarks, and said he did not really mean them.
