Kim Kardashian Denies Smuggling 'Looted' Ancient Roman Sculpture

Kim Kardashian has denied any knowledge of an Ancient Roman sculpture that was imported under her name and seized at the Post of Los Angeles in 2016 as it is believed to be stolen.

The sculpture, described as "Fragment of Myron's Samian Athena, Limestone, Roman, 1st – 2nd century A.D.," was part of a $745,882 shipment containing 40 pieces worth of antiques and furniture, which was addressed to "Kim Kardashian dba Noel Roberts Trust."

"Kim never purchased this piece and this is the first that she has learned of its existence," a spokesperson for the reality star said in a statement. "We believe it may have been purchased using her name without authorization and because it was never received, she was unaware of the transaction."

"We encourage an investigation and hope that it gets returned to the rightful owners."

In 2018, an archeologist from Italy’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage determined the limestone statue of the lower half of a woman was "looted, smuggled and illegally exported from Italy."

At the time of the seizure by Customs and Border Protection, Kardashian and husband Kanye West were renovating their Calabasas, California home with the help of famed Belgian interior designer, Axel Vervoordt.

Custom officials were provided with a receipt from Kardashian's business entity claiming the statue was bought in 2012 from Vervoordt, who purchased it from Galerie Chenel in Paris.

However, inspectors discovered the receipt was not for the seized Fragment of Myron's Samian Athena, but for a different statue.

"The November 2012 Galerie Chenel invoice did not appear to be for the defendant statute because the term 'a large draped statue' would refer to an entire/whole draped natural sized statue and a 'fragment of Myron Samian Athena' would refer to only a portion of a statue, which is what defendant statue is," read the court documents.

The documents in the court case do not allege any wrongdoing by Kardashian.

Italy's Carabinieri for the Protection of Cultural Heritage has requested the statue be returned to Italy.