Stolen icon returned to Greece

(20 November 2008)

British authorities have returned a 14th-century Byzantine icon, valued at £1 million, that was stolen from a Greek monastery 30 years ago.

The painting depicts Jesus Christ being lowered from the cross and was smuggled from its resting place after being cut into six pieces.

The 700 year old artefact is thought to have been commissioned for the Saint John the Baptist monastery in Serres, northern Greece, where it hung until the theft in 1978.

British authorities caught wind of the painting's presence in the UK when it was put on sale in 2002.

Preperations are underway to restore the painting to itsoriginal state before it is returned to the sisterhood in Serres.