ATHENS, Greece (AP) – A man has been arrested for antique smuggling for trying to sell an antique marble statue of ‘extraordinary works of art’ that used to be a temple in the famous Acropolis of Athens or the surrounding slopes decorated, Greek authorities said. Friday.
Police said the statue of the 5th century BC was recovered after a months-long police operation that involved an investigation by the Department of Cultural Heritage and Antiquities.
The image is only about 37 centimeters (14.5 inches) high and shows a young man sitting to the right. The head, arms and most of both legs are missing, and two small holes are visible behind the left shoulder, from which sticks would probably have fastened the statue to a pediment – the triangular gable side above the short sides of an old temple.
“This is an exceptional work of art, of the kind that cannot be easily found, not even in systematic excavations,” archaeologist Dimitris Sourlas said during a presentation Friday at Athens police headquarters. According to him, the statue could have been part of a larger composition, but more research was needed.
Authorities did not say why they linked it to the Acropolis area, and what led them to suspect it was coming from a temple – which would diminish the search for its origin.
The work was found in the possession of a man in the southern city of Corinth, who was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly looking for a buyer of the statue for a price of 100,000 euros ($ 119,000).
An investigation is underway into how the piece got into his hands and whether he managed to contact potential buyers for it.
Photos released by police showed that the statue had long since been buried, and that it had signs of damage by digging tools.
It is illegal to own, buy, sell or excavate antiquities in Greece without a permit.