A European court on Thursday upheld Italy’s right to confiscate a prized Greek statue, the “Victorious Adolescent,” from the J. Paul Getty Museum in California, ruling that Italy was right to claim the return of an important part of its cultural heritage..

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled that Italy’s long-running efforts to recover the “Victorious Adolescent” statue from the Getty were fair.

The Getty had appealed a 2018 Italian Supreme Court ruling in favor of the statue’s return, arguing that its rights to the statue had been infringed by Italy’s attempt to take it back.

The “Victorious Youth” a life-size bronze statue dating from 300 BC. to 100 BC, is one of the most important exhibits in the Getty’s collection.

An Italian court in Pesaro had ordered its seizure and return in 2010, following Italy’s campaign to recover antiquities looted from its territory and sold to museums and private collectors around the world.

The Getty has long defended its ownership of the statue, saying Italy had no claim to it.

Among other things, the Getty had argued that the statue is of Greek origin, was found in international waters and was never part of Italy’s cultural heritage. It has cited a 1968 Court of Cassation ruling that found no evidence that the statue belonged to Italy.

The bronze statue, which was recovered from the sea in 1964 by Italian fishermen, was purchased by the Getty in 1977 for $4 million and has been on display at the museum ever since.

Thursday’s decision by the ECtHR based in Strasbourg, France was a judicial decision. Both sides now have three months to request that the case be heard by the Grand Chamber of the court for a final decision.

There was no immediate comment from the Getty, and its lawyers referred the museum for comment.

Getty had appealed to the ECtHR arguing, among other things, that Italy’s 2010 confiscation order violated his right to property and that he would be deprived of that right if US authorities proceeded with the seizure.

However, the ECtHR ruled in Italy’s favor and strongly affirmed Italy’s right to seek the protection of its cultural heritage, especially from illegal export.

“The court further held that due, in particular, to the negligence or bad faith of the Getty Trust in purchasing the statue despite being aware of the Italian state’s claims and its efforts to recover it, the confiscation order was proportionate to the objective ensuring the return of an object that was part of Italy’s cultural heritage,” the summary of the decision states.

The statue, nicknamed the “Getty Bronze,” is an important exhibit for the museum. Standing approximately 1.52 meters tall, the statue of the young athlete raising his right arm resting an olive wreath around his head is one of the few life-size Greek bronzes to have survived.

Although the artist is unknown, some scholars believe it was made by Lysippus, Alexander the Great’s personal sculptor.

The statue is believed to have sunk with the ship carrying it to Italy after the Roman conquest of Greece. After being found in the nets of Italian fishermen in international waters in 1964, it was reportedly buried in a vegetable garden and hidden in a priest’s bathtub before being transported from Italy.

The Italian government says it was imported into Italy and then exported illegally.

Italy has successfully recovered thousands of items from museums, collections and private individuals around the world that were looted or illegally stolen from the country, and recently opened a museum to house them until they can be returned to the regions from which they were looted.

The most important work to date that Italy has successfully recovered is the Euphronius Crater, one of the finest ancient Greek vases in existence. New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, which bought it for $1 million in 1972 from an art dealer later accused of looting, returned it to Italy in 2008.

In 2007, the Getty, without admitting any wrongdoing, agreed to return 40 ancient treasures in exchange for the long-term loan of other items. Similar agreements have been made with other museums.

Under the 2007 settlement, the two sides agreed to postpone discussing “Victorious Teen” until the court case was decided.