looting

A New Orleans couple have uncovered a 2nd-century Roman headstone in their Carrollton backyard, inscribed with the name of a naval sailor - Sextus Congenius Verus. The marble slab, likely looted during World War II, was identified as a missing artifact from an Italian museum. Now in FBI custody, it awaits repatriation to Civitavecchia, with questions being raised about just how it reached Louisiana. Daniella Santoro, a Tulane University anthropologist, and her husband, Aaron Lorenz, found the stone while clearing weeds at 1106 Cambronne Street. The slab, roughly 3 feet by 2 feet, bore faded Latin text. Santoro contacted Dr. D. Ryan Gray, an archaeologist at the University of New Orleans, suspecting it might indicate a buried cemetery, common in