Getty officials knew famous statue looted: paper

An undated photo of the Greek statue of Aphrodite acquired by the Getty museum in 1988. Officials at the Getty knew the famous statue was possibly stolen when they acquired it for a record $18 million, the Los Angeles Times reported on Wednesday.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Officials at the Getty museum knew a famous statue of the Greek goddess Aphrodite was possibly stolen when they acquired it for a record $18 million in 1988, the Los Angeles Times reported on Wednesday.

The article cites former Getty executives and archeologists who said they warned museum officials not to acquire the 2,400-year-old statue that is now considered the centerpiece of the Getty's antiquities collection.

A Getty spokesman was not immediately available to comment. The Getty museum is the richest U.S. art institution, with an endowment of over $5 billion, and one of the world's leading repositories of antiquities.

Current Getty director Michael Brand has said the museum was willing to return 26 of 46 disputed pieces that Italy wants back, including the Aphrodite, pending a final check on its provenance.

According to the Times, signs the Aphrodite statue was looted included fractures, dirt smudges that suggested smuggling and the dealer's assertion the piece came from a Swiss collector whose family had it since 1939 -- the same year it became illegal to export Italian antiquities.

"Any museum professional looking at an archeological piece in those conditions had to suspect it came from an illicit origin," said Luis Monreal, former director of the Getty Conservation Institute.

Monreal said he had warned John Walsh, at the time the museum's director, not to buy the statue and even suggested a test of pollen in the dirt would indicate the statue's origin. The test was never done, the Times reported.

The Getty Trust, which controls the museum and was founded by oil billionaire J. Paul Getty, has been under intense scrutiny for the past two years as Italian and Greek authorities have accused the museum of possessing looted antiquities.

A former curator has been charged with art theft and a Trust chairman resigned in 2006 following controversies over art looting.