(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 20 - The Carabinieri for the Protection of Cultural Heritage (TPC), coordinated by the Public Prosecutor of Vercelli, have recovered the dial and all the other pieces of the pendulum clock made in the mid-nineteenth century by the artist Mariano Trevellini commissioned by the Papacy of Pius IX for the Palazzo del Quirinale, placed on the tower of the Palace from 1854 to 1961 and later - after it had been sold to the "Armellini" State Institute of Rome for the still being established Museo dell'Orologio - stolen.
The searches took place in Milan, Bologna and in the province of Florence.
Three people were charged with embezzlement, receiving stolen goods and illicit alienation of cultural property.
The intervention, obtained from investigations by the NucleoTPC of Turin, collaborated with those of Monza, Florence and Bologna, as well as an undercover soldier from the TPC Command of Rome who, with an expert in ancient watches, verified the presence and authenticity of the objects before carry out searches.
The decree of seizure issued by the Vercelli Public Prosecutor's Office was executed.
Now the watch will return to the state's availability.
"Thanks to sophisticated and meticulous investigative techniques, the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, in conjunction with the prosecutor of Vercelli, successfully completed an important operation to combat the illicit traffic in works of art", declared the Minister for cultural and tourism activities, Dario Franceschini.
"The precious clock of the Quirinale Tower is thus again available to the State. A complex and widespread operation on the national territory which demonstrates, once again, the excellence of the Carabinieri Command which has been operating since 1969 in defense of the Italian cultural heritage. To them, to the Procuradi Vercelli and the other institutions that participated in the recovery deserve the applause of the Italian government ", concluded Franceschini (ANSA).
