Athens - A 14th century Byzantine icon that was stolen from a monastery in northern Greece 30 years ago and ended up in the hands of a London-based art collector was returned to Athens, the Culture Ministry said Thursday.

The painting, which depicts Christ being taken down from the cross, disappeared from a monastery in the northern town of Serres in
1978.

According to a report in the daily Kathimerini newspaper, Greek authorities traced its whereabouts in 2002 when a British collector, who is reportedly of Greek origin, attempted to sell it.

Greek authorities alerted British police after the collector allegedly refused to hand over the painting despite being shown evidence that it had been illegally smuggled out of the country.

A British court ruled earlier this year that the painting should be returned to Greece.

"Days like these are a joy for all those struggling to rescue our cultural legacy," Culture Minister Michalis Liapis said.

The icon will be returned to the John the Baptist Monastery in Serres, where it will require restoration work since it was painted over before it was smuggled out of the country.

Liapis said security would be intensified at the monastery to prevent a similar theft.

"The Culture Ministry does not encourage domestic Elginism," he said, referring to Britain's Lord Elgin, who removed marble friezes from the Parthenon more than 200 years ago.

Greece's government has launched a campaign to recover ancient artefacts and religious art smuggled out of the country and acquired by private collectors and museums.

In recent months, Greece has reclaimed antiquities from Italy, the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles and the Shelby White collection in New York.

For years Greece has called on Britain to hand back the fifth century BC Parthenon marbles, currently housed in a special gallery at the British Museum.

The friezes, also known as the Elgin Marbles, were removed from atop the Acropolis by Elgin, who was Britain's ambassador to the Ottoman Empire at the time.

The 2,500-year-old sculptures, depicting 160 meters of religious and mythological scenes, have been held by the British Museum since 1816 after they were sold by Elgin, despite ongoing Greek efforts to have them repatriated.

The British Museum has refused to return them, insisting that the transaction was legal as Elgin obtained permission to remove them from Greece's then rulers, the Ottoman Empire.

Athens hopes to display them in a new 100-million-euro (130- million-dollar) museum, which is due to be completed next year, but the British Museum has said in the past that there was no sense in returning them as more people could see them where they were. (dpa)