Oct 15, 2004, 6:37 PM

Stolen carpet returned to museum

TEHRAN, Oct. 15 (MNA) -- A carpet recently stolen from the Carpet Museum of Iran was discovered by the police near the museum in Tehran this week and returned to the museum.

The early twentieth century carpet was stolen about a month ago while being transferred to the museum’s storeroom.

Iranian cultural officials believed that the carpet had not been taken out of the country due to the difficulty the thieves would have had in selling the rare carpet.

However, some experts were convinced that the carpet was stolen in a pre-planned operation and taken out of the country within 10 hours of the theft.

The carpet was woven in Ravar, Kerman Province and is one of the museum’s rarest carpets.

RM/HG

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MNA

News ID 8447