Stolen Met Statue Returned To Lebanon, Prosecutors Say

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Three marble statues worth more than $5 million were returned to Lebanon on Friday after being seized during a months-long investigation into pilfered antiques from the middle eastern country, the Manhattan District Attorney's office announced Friday.

An investigation into the stolen artifact began when a marble bull's head statue was loaned to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for display, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said Friday. The statue tipped off investigators to two other marble statues in the possession of a private art dealer, prosecutors said.

The three artifacts were repatriated to Lebanon on Friday. The statues were stolen from the Temple of Eshmun — an ancient place of worship in southwestern Lebanon — during a civil war in the 1970s, prosecutors said Friday.

The oldest of the statues — a marble torso called the "calf bearer" — traces its origins back to the 6th century B.C. and is worth an estimated $4.5 million. The bull's head was created in the year 360 B.C. and is worth an estimated $1.2 million, prosecutors said. The third statue — another torso — is as old as the 4th century B.C. and its value has not been calculated, prosecutors said.

But the sentimental value of these artifacts to Lebanon is greater than any monetary value, Vance said Friday.

"When you put a price tag on these artifacts, however, it is all too easy to forget that these are not just valuable collector’s items—these are rare, celebrated remnants of entire civilizations’ culture and history," Vance said in a statement.

Criminal charges have not yet been filed in regards to the trafficked statues, but an investigation is ongoing. Pursuing criminal cases for stolen artifacts often requires an immense level of cooperation between international bodies because the path of the items must be traced for many decades without the aid of those who had possessed them, investigators from the Department of Homeland Security said Friday.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is not considered a "bad actor" in the case because the bull's head statue on display was loaned to the museum from a private collector, Vance said. The Manhattan district attorney called on all in the art world to be more scrupulous when dealing with artifacts that may be stolen.

Consul General of Lebanon in New York Majdi Ramadan said Friday that more than 500 pieces of artwork were stolen from the Temple of Eshmun during the country's civil war and that he expects more repatriations to take place in the future.

"I sincerely appreciate the efforts of the District Attorney of New York and his Office for their efforts to enforce the rule of law, to eliminate the illicit trafficking of antiquities, and to repatriate the three ancient statues to Lebanon." Ramadan said in a statement.

Photo courtesy Manhattan District Attorney's Office