Italian religious statue stolen in 2014 returned to Italy from the Netherlands

A historic Italian religious statue was returned to Italy from the Netherlands, as reported on Tuesday by the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust). The artifact, a statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, was stolen in 2014 from a church on the Amalfi Coast and was then bought by a Dutch collector.

The statue is approximately 700 years old and holds “great religious importance,” according to the EU's judicial agency. It was stolen from a church in the village of Pastena in August 2014. It was then put up for sale by an Italian antique dealer.

“It was bought in good faith by a Dutch collector who intended to resell it and posted pictures on social media,” Eurojust explained. These photos caught the attention of the priest of Pastena, who then contacted the Italian authorities.

A specialist cultural heritage unit of the Italian Carabinieri, along with Salerno's Public Prosecution Service, launched an investigation into the matter.

The Italian authorities reached out to Eurojust for assistance in retrieving and returning the statue to the church. “The Agency assisted the Italian authorities with the rapid execution of a European Investigation Order (EIO) to arrange for its return to the Pastena parish,” Eurojust wrote.

The transfer of the statue back to Italy was completed in recent days.