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Lost Treasure

Updated: August 05, 2008

Have you ever gone to a museum and wondered where its artifacts came from? There's a chance that some of the treasures were stolen.

It's an issue that's contested all over the world between museums and the cultures that claim rights to the artifacts on display. Some of America's most prestigious institutions have admitted taking part in the looting of artifacts.

Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of the world's biggest collectors of priceless artifacts, recently announced it would return its exhibit of relics allegedly looted from historical sites in Italy. The MET is not alone-- Los Angeles' Getty Museum plans to return artifacts from its Italian exhibit, while dozens of other museums around the globe are tracking down owners of artifacts obtained from collectors or dealers who have no idea how the artifacts came into their hands.