Keeping Elgin Marbles in UK akin to ‘cutting Mona Lisa in half’ – Greek leader

The Parthenon Marbles in London’s British Museum (Matthew Fearn/PA)

The Greek prime minister has compared the British Museum’s possession of the Elgin Marbles to the Mona Lisa painting being cut in half.

Athens has long demanded the return of the Parthenon Sculptures, which were removed from Greece by Lord Elgin in the early 19th century, when he was the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.