Petition · past parliament

To return the Elgin Marbles to Athens

Rejected 21 signatures

What the petition asks

To return the Elgin Marbles to Greece, Athens. The Marbles belong to Greece and represent a very important historic time as part of Greece's heritage. The Marbles were created by the Greeks more than 2000 years ago and need to be returned to Greece.
With the latest available 3D scanning technology which exists today, the Marbles can be scanned to create 1:1 models of the Marbles to be retained at the British museum. The original Marbles are to be returned to Greece.

Why it was rejected

It asked for something that is not the responsibility of the UK Government or Parliament.

We can only accept petitions about things the Government or Parliament are directly responsible for.

The UK Government is not directly responsible for the Elgin Marbles, but we have published the following petition, which you might like to sign:

Amend the British Museum Act to allow the acceptance of repatriation requests: Amend the British Museum Act to allow the acceptance of repatriation requests.

Timeline

28 Nov 2023 Petition opened for signatures
11 Dec 2023 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 21
Status Rejected
Rejected 11 Dec 2023

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.