One day after the Council of State ordered a temporary halt to work on the new Acropolis Museum, court sources yesterday said that a senior prosecutor has ordered that criminal charges be brought against senior Culture Ministry officials who approved the project.

In an ironic twist, New Democracy MP Petros Tatoulis, 51 — who prompted the investigation, complaining that the 94-million-euro project would cause irreparable damage to ancient building remains on the museum’s Makriyianni plot — is now deputy culture minister.

Supreme Court deputy prosecutor Anastassios Kapollas has instructed an Athens prosecutor to press criminal charges for breach of duty against the state-appointed committee that awarded the museum contract to architects Bernard Tschumi and Michael Photiades.

Kapollas also ordered the prosecution of the ministry’s Central Archaeological Council, which approved the museum plans and gave the go-ahead for construction work. Charges will also be brought against “those responsible for destroying antiquities on the site.”