Greece demands return of antiquities after thefts at the British Museum

Greece renewed its calls for the UK to return the iconic Parthenon Marbles, which were removed from Athens in the 19th century, after it emerged last week that the British Museum had sacked an employee for allegedly stealing and selling more than 2,000 valuable items.

Despina Koutsoumba, Director of the Association of Greek Archaeologists, told the BBC:

"We want to tell the British Museum that they can no longer say that Greek cultural heritage is better preserved in the British Museum than in Greece."

Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said the theft "strengthens the permanent and just demand for the definitive return and reunification of the statues in our country".

The museum admitted last week that a large number of artefacts had been lost, stolen or damaged.

It then fired Peter Higgs, senior curator and expert on Greek artefacts, who had been in the job for 30 years.