FBI returns stolen marble statue to Italian government
Torlonia Peplophoro, a Roman marble peplophoros statue, was stolen on November 11, 1983, from Villa Torlonia, a historic residence in Rome, Italy. (FBI)
NEW YORK (AP) — The United States has returned to the Italian government a recovered marble statue that was stolen more than three decades ago.
A ceremony was held Wednesday in New York.
The headless and armless statue depicts a woman wearing a garment common in ancient Greece.
It was among works stolen in 1983 from the Villa Torlonia in Rome, which houses art and cultural artifacts.
A New York City gallery owner illegally imported it in the late 1990s and then sold it in 2001 for about $75,000.
The buyer then tried to resell it through an auction house, discovered it was stolen and voluntarily turned it over to the FBI in 2015.