Cops seize 2 ancient statues

Associated Press

ATHENS, Greece

Police in southern Greece have seized a rare twin pair of 2,500-year-old marble statues and arrested two farmers who allegedly planned to sell them abroad for $12.43 million, authorities said Tuesday.

Police said two Greeks aged 42 and 48 were arrested in the Peloponnese area late Friday as they were loading the illegally excavated figures of young men into a truck.

Authorities are seeking a third man suspected of belonging to a smuggling gang that planned to spirit the 6th century B.C. works out of the country.

“This is a very important find, of fabulous value, and [both statues] were ready to be taken out of Greece,” Culture Minister Pavlos Geroulanos said.

Archaeologists said Tuesday the statues are “outstanding works of art” and may have come from a temple or cemetery in a lost ancient city in the Peloponnese region in southern Greece.

Both are in excellent condition, but lack sections of their lower legs and were gashed by a plow or digging machinery.

They stand 5 feet 9 inches and 5 feet 8 inches high, and were probably carved by the same sculptor out of thick-grained island marble between 550-520 B.C.