BOSTON, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- The Boston Museum of Fine Arts has turned over 13 valuable antiquities this week to Italian officials, part of an agreement on allegedly stolen artifacts.
Officials in Italy have been attempting to negotiate with U.S. museums to return artifacts they say were looted from the European nation, and the Boston locale reacted Thursday by returning several Greek and Roman artifacts, the Los Angeles Times said.
The Italian officials said they hope the prompt action taken by the Boston Museum of Fine Arts can help expedite a related deal with Los Angeles' J. Paul Getty Museum, which has been balking on its agreement to return such artifacts for nearly three years, the report said.
Malcolm Rogers, the head of the Boston museum, said his facility purchased the 13 artifacts from dealers in good faith, but decided to return the items to Italy after an investigation proved the officials' claims to be correct.
"We in Boston are committed, alongside the Italian government, to seeing the end of illicit excavations and the illicit trade in antiquities," Rogers told the Times.
