The British Museum has been dragged into a fresh row over the Elgin Marbles after models walked down a runway next to the contested masterpieces.

Greek Minister of Culture and Sport, Lina Mendoni, said: "The directors of the British Museum trivialize and insult not only the monument but also the universal values that it transmits."

She emphasized that the conditions of display and storage of the sculptures, at the Duveen Gallery, are constantly deteriorating. It is time for the stolen and abused sculptural masterpieces to shine in the Attic light.

This is not the first time a country demands the return of historic works collected by the British Museum.

In a statement issued on Aug 16, 2023, the chairman of the British Museum admitted that almost 2,000 artefacts went missing from the historic collection. This piece of news triggered calls for returning historic relics from countries including China, Greece, Egypt and Chile.

In China, over 820 million discussions were made toward the topic "The British Museum should return China's historic relics for free" on social media platforms.

Currently, the museum has a total of 23,000 Chinese relics, while about 2,000 Chinese relics are on long-term display. The Chinese objects, spanning from the Neolithic age to the present, include paintings, prints, jade and ceramics.

Why does the British Museum collect so many Chinese relics?

Painting Admonitions of the Instructress to the Court Ladies, for example, was part of the Qing imperial collection during the latter part of the 18th and 19th centuries. It was sold to the museum by British Captain C Johnson who acquired the scroll in Beijing in 1900 during the occupation of the city by the Eight-Power Allied Forces.

Some Chinese people said that not a single Chinese could leave the British Museum in a happy mood.

For long, Britain has cited the British Museum Act 1963, which says the real owners of these stolen antiques are not in a position to protect them, to deny their return.

There is still a long way to go for the relics to return home, but the efforts will never stop.

Wish these stolen objects could go home soon.

Reporter Yan Yiqi, Xiao Yanyan, Zhao Yaxin