Egypt halts sale of stolen monument at New York auction hall

Egypt's Minister of Culture Farouq Hosni entrusted Zahi Hawas, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, to take official and legal measures and conduct immediate contacts to stop the sale of a valuable piece monument stolen from Beheit E1 Hejara temple in Gharbia governorate.

The stolen piece is a granite plaque of an engraved royal face dating back to Ptolemaic era at the end of the fourth century and now displayed at an auction hall in New York.

Hawas said that antiquities police and Interpol were notified to stop the sale of the historical monument and take legal measures to return the piece to Egypt.

He said that the smuggled plaque was taken from the temple wall by thieves who smuggled it abroad, until it was found in New York this week and recognized on the Internet by a French archaeologist who had worked in Beheit area.