Police in Turkey's western Izmir province confiscated a 1,500-year-old gilded religious book written in Hebrew featuring the Shield of David, reports said Friday.

The anti-smuggling and organized crime unit of the Izmir Police Department carried out the operation upon receiving a tipoff that some suspects were planning to smuggle and sell the hand-written book.

The police stopped a vehicle near Gaziemir district, where they found the ancient book and detained a suspect identified as C.E.

The investigation into the incident continues, reports said.

Measuring 10.5 centimeters in length and 8.5 centimeters in width, the book has a total of 17 pages.

Thousands of anti-smuggling operations are carried out across Turkey every year to halt the illegal sale of historical objects and protect the country's rich cultural heritage. The issue is crucial to a country that is home to about 3,000 ancient cities from 42 civilizations and whose tourism industry relies on its rich historical heritage to attract millions of foreign visitors each year.