A fundraising initiative to symbolically repay the amount used to rescue the Parthenon Sculptures from Elgin and his creditors has been launched by the Greek community, classicists and activists of the British Commission for the Return of the Parthenon Marbles, (BCRPM), with the British writer Victoria Hislop, member of BCRPM, to appeal for financial participation in this effort.

“Right now, with the British Museum in talks with Athens, we have the opportunity to erase a 200-year-old injustice. We need the UK Government to support the British Museum to do the right thing. We therefore set out to symbolically repay the funds used to purchase the Sculptures by Elgin and his creditors. To recognize the role of parliament in protecting these treasures as a step towards securing its support” characteristically mentions the author, appealing for donations to this important campaign “Every gift it matters” points out.

More than 200 years ago, Lord Elgin brutally removed the Sculptures from the Parthenon, causing severe damage to the monument. He sent the Parthenon Sculptures from the site of the Acropolis in England to decorate his ancestral home in Scotland. However, he went bankrupt and was forced to offer the sculptures to British Parliamentwhich at the time paid the sum of £35,000 (about £2.5 million today).