Looting a country's patrimony is also a crime.

Reader comment on: Cy Vance Chases Antiquities While N.Y. Murders Skyrocket

Submitted by Lyle (United States), Dec 19, 2021 21:20

Consider that for example there is a strong movement to return the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon back to gGeece from the British Museum. Syria being one of the places our civilization originated, has lots of artifacts that a part of its history. However because folks are willing to pay a lot for objects smuggled out of the country, there is as always someone willing to engage in the trade. The us government has signed international agreements making possession of such artifacts illegal in the us. (It should be noted that this also applies to paintings the Nazis confiscated and were sold on the black market in the US) So these investigations involve crimes with lots of money involved. An example is this article which suggests the metropolitan museum in NYC has a lot of artifacts from Cambodia. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/met-reviewing-45-cambodian-objects-2025524 This example of looting a country when the government is non functional also occurred in Iraq and in Syria.

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