ATHENS – As Greece has stepped up the long-failed fight to get the British Museum to return the stolen Parthenon Marbles ripped off at the start of the 19th Century, 10 fragments kept in a warehouse will be exhibited at the Acropolis Museum.

They have been hidden away at the National Archaeological Museum until getting approval from the Central Archaeological Council (KAS) to be displayed, said Kathimerini, although there was no word on how long they were kept from public view.

The fragments include parts of human figures from the eastern and southern frieze of the Parthenon and its northern metopes and parts of a head from the northern frieze.

They were documented by the late archaeologist and researcher of ancient Greek sculpture and architecture Giorgos Despinis and will soon be taken to the Acropolis Museum that was built to house the Parthenon Marbles if they are ever returned.

He was Professor Emeritus at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki before passing away in 2014 and was known for becoming involved with issues of repatriating lost treasures.

He spotted the link between a funerary stele excavated at Porto Rafti and a relief fragment in the collection of Leon Levy and Shelby White, and he was instrumental in effecting the return of the fragment to Greece in 2008.