Row heats up over the Parthenon Marbles

Hollywood actors George Clooney, Bill Murray and Matt Damon have become embroiled in one of the fiercest of all heritage controversies: should the Parthenon marbles be returned by the British Museum to Greece?

The actors were in London to promote their latest film, The Monuments Men, which was inspired by the true story of a team of soldiers on a mission to rescue valuable artwork stolen by the Nazis during the invasion of Europe.  But they left implying that Britain too, needed to have a long, hard, look at itself.

Murray said: “It seems like it’s a problem all over the world. Who owns this art? Where it came from? Do they have the right to give it back? I think it has had a very nice stay here, certainly. London’s gotten crowded, there’s plenty of room back there in Greece, plenty of room. England can take a lead on this kind of thing … letting art go back where it came from.”