Before this renewed prominence of legal efforts, the United States had also returned illegally offered-for-sale heritage fragments to other states, after FBI investigations established that the objects originated from unauthorized excavations. The case involved fragments of sarcophagi from the Roman period, handed over to Lebanon at the Consulate in New York, with a view to repatriation.
Meanwhile, Europol has warned that the networks that loot museums and select objects for sale have become increasingly well organized and target specific categories of artefacts, including goods considered highly valuable on the art market. According to the agency’s assessments, these thefts do not appear to be random: they may involve reconnaissance and planning before the attack, while changing methods make recovery and provenance control all the more important.
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