CAMAPANIA - The cultural heritage unit of the police have recovered to important marble sculptures the police have announced.

 The statues are of Emperor Septimus Severus dating to the 300AD and of the deity Dionysus from 200 AD.

 Their important recover comes after the joint investigative work between the archaeological police heritage unit, together with the collaboration of the data processing centre and the Public Prosecutor’s office in Santa Maria Capua Vetere.

 The marble statues were robbed in November 1985 in Santa Maria Capua Vetere while on display together with other artefacts and were the only remaining pieces that had not yet been recovered in the years since.

 In 2016 during monitoring of the international art market, a suspicious sale was detected at a well-known auction house in New York. The images of the auction item were then compared to originals of the missing marble statues which confirmed that they were the stolen treasures. The statues were then seized by US law enforcement.

 In June 2022 after a long repatriation process from the USA, both marble pieces were returned to Italy and rehomed to their original display for members of the public to enjoy in Santa Maria Capua Vetere.