Leptis Magna: Lawyers Seek Return of Stolen 'Windsor Roman Columns' Back to Libya

ALBAWABA - Moves started by Libyan lawyers in London for the return of the columns taken from the Roman city of the Leptis Magna in present-day Libya and erected in the Great Park in Windsor.

The Lawyers are acting on behalf of the government in Libyan and have already started corresponding with the concerned British authorities over the return of the ancient columns that were taken from the area in the early 19th century. 

The lawyers - MS Legal Solicitors - approached the lawyers of the British Crown and are inquiring about the return of the columns that adorn an the impressive Virginia Water  area at the Windsor Great Park. 

The correspondence were published on the social media and reflect the seriousness of the Libyan government and that of the lawyers. The letter written by them is quite extensive with examples of the conventions safeguarding rare artefacts and their removal from one geographical area to another. 

The Leptis Magna is an ancient Roman ruin in Wadi Lebda on the shore of the Mediterrnean. Today, the ruins are in the city of Khoms that lie to the east of Tripoli in Libya.

According to the Royal Collection Trust website the columns were "reconstructed in the early 19th century..." and "Corinthian columns" that "support pedestals of stone togther with half broken columns both standing and lying on the ground. An archway spanning a path stands in the background. An archway spanning a path stands in the background." 

One writing in Arabic said this: "The archaeological city of Leptis was stolen through out various historical epochs by the Europeans who took the artefacts either to France or Britain...France stole first and then it was Britain" and these "columns ended up garden in one of the suburbs of London."

The quoted added "Mohammad Shaban, a Libyan-British lawyer is trying to return the columns to Libya - he did this before with other stolen artefacts that were also returned.