The Tourism Police and Antiquities Protection Agency in Benghazi seized the artifact “The Lupa Capitolina,” which disappeared in the 1970s after receiving information that the artifact was found in a farm in Sidi Faraj area, according to a statement by the Ministry of Interior on Sunday.
The statement said the farm was raided by members of the arrest and investigation unit and the officer in charge of the seizing operation, accompanied by patrols from the Benghazi Rescue Department and the Benghazi Antiquities Watch, in coordination with the Public Prosecution Office in southern Benghazi. It indicated that the missing piece was found and the members took legal measures regarding the incident.
Two models of the artifact "Lupa Capitolina" were placed in Tripoli and Benghazi during the Italian occupation period.
The Stability Support Apparatus announced the recovery of the stolen artifact "Capitolina Lupus" in Al-Asaba last February, but the Authority of Antiquities responded to the announcement by saying that it was a replica and not the original one that was in Tripoli.
The "Lupa Capitolina” is a Roman myth that appears in its traditional design as it nurses the two children “Romulus” and “Ramus”, symbolizing the foundation of the historical city of Rome.
