Unique Roman relic discovered in New Orleans backyard traced to World War II theft
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A New Orleans couple uncovered a mysterious Roman ruin in their backyard this year — and now authorities know why it was found there.
Conservation Resource Center of New Orleans (PRCNO) shared the discovery On October 6, he detailed how a spring gardening project became an international ordeal.
Daniella Santoro and Aaron Lorenz were clearing brush from their historic home in Carrollton in March when they came across a marble tablet engraved in Latin.
TREASURES, INCLUDING A 2,300-YEAR-OLD TOMB, WERE REVEALED DURING THE SEWAGE SYSTEM IN ITALY.
A picture of the stone shows it partially buried among weeds and dead leaves. Santoro, an anthropologist at Tulane University, immediately contacted local authorities.
A range of experts participated in the investigation, from university professors to members of the FBI’s Art Crimes Team. They managed to decipher the Latin inscription.
A New Orleans couple discovered a Roman relic in their backyard that had been missing for decades from an Italian museum. (D. Ryan Gray; Susann Lusnia)
The marble relic was an ancient Roman funerary artifact belonging to a sailor named Sextus Congenius Verus.
The inscription was lost in a museum in Civitavecchia, Italy, about 35 miles north of Rome.
The news eventually reached Erin Scott O’Brien, the former owner of the Carrollton home, and she was shocked by the news.
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He apparently placed the sign in his backyard in 2004.
“We planted a tree and said this is the beginning of our new home, let’s put it outside in our yard,” O’Brien told PRCNO’s Preservation in Print.
The relic, discovered in a garden in New Orleans, was once dedicated to a Roman sailor named Sextus Congenius Verus. (Susann Lusnia)
“I thought it was a work of art,” he said. “I had no idea this was a 2,000-year-old ruin.”
The stone’s previous owners were O’Brien’s grandparents, Charles and Adele Paddock; They both passed away in the 1980s.
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Charles Paddock served in Italy during World War II and met his wife there; this suggests that the couple may have acquired it from Civitavecchia.
The museum was damaged by Allied bombing in the mid-1940s.
Tulane professor Susann Lusnia traveled to Italy to help repatriate the artifact. (Susann Lusnia)
It is unclear how Paddocks obtained the stone, but the artifact is now in FBI custody and will be returned to Italy.
Tulane University professor Susann Lusnia, who was part of the team that identified the artifact, recently visited the museum in Civitavecchia as part of her repatriation efforts.
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“This is amazing,” O’Brien said. “It’s great that he’s back where he belongs.”
Preservation in Print editor Daniel Monteverde told Fox News Digital this was one of the most unique stories he’s seen in the Big Easy in two decades of reporting.
The marble tablet found in Carrollton was traced to a museum in Civitavecchia, Italy, north of Rome. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
“This is a news town with so much history and color that few things are surprising,” he said. “But this may be the most unique story I’ve ever come across. When it crossed my desk, it was a no-brainer for us to share it.”
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He added: “I’m glad this artifact was found by someone with the right background to know it was something special and to get it into the hands of those who could examine it and ultimately return it to its rightful owner.”
