Slain mayor protected environment

SALERNO, Italy, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- A Southern Italian mayor known for environmentalism was killed when his car was sprayed with bullets, police said.

Angelo Vassallo, 57, the center-left mayor of Pollica -- near Salerno -- also tried to stop illegal building, the ANSA news service reported.

The deputy speaker of the European Parliament, Gianni Pittella, said, "The country has lost one of its best local administrators, who bravely fought to uphold law and order and defend one of the most beautiful areas in the Mezzogiorno," ANSA reported.

Pittella is a member of the center-left Democratic Party.