A 2,500-year-old ancient city located in Turkey's southern Muğla province is on sale for 35 million Turkish liras ($8.35 million), while officials are unable to protect its historical heritage as the land it is located on is private property.

Property owners who put up the land for sale, where the ancient Greek city of Bargylia is located in, want the Culture and Tourism Ministry to expropriate it or exchange it for land elsewhere, Hürriyet daily reported.

Located 30 kilometers off Bodrum on the coast of Caria between Iasos and Myndus, Bargylia has an amphitheater, a temple, a Roman bath and a necropolis from the Byzantine era.

The city has reportedly been looted by treasure hunters and no legal excavations have been carried out to date.

For instance, an ancient mosaic was destroyed and stolen by smugglers, while the city is filled with holes left from illegal excavations, the report said, noting that the land had been a private property since 1927.

One of the co-owners of the land, 87-year-old Hüseyin Üçpınar noted that they have been trying to sell it for years. He noted that he does not speak with other co-owners of the land, who reportedly got mad at him for trying to sell it.

There are around 192 archaeological sites in Muğla and at least 22 of these sites have been taken under protection.