Ancient fresco among 60 treasures returned to Italy from US

ROME (AP) — A fresco from Herculaneum, a city which was destroyed along with Pompeii by the 79 A.D. eruption of Mount Vesuvius is now back in Italy, along with 59 other ancient pieces which were illegally trafficked to the United States. Italian and U.S. officials displayed the works in Rome on Monday to journalists. Last summer, U.S. authorities announced that the fresco and dozens of other trafficked objects, most of which ended up in private collections in the United States, would go back to Italy. Among the more precious pieces is a 6th-century B.C. two-handled drinking cup. Italy said the returned works are worth more than $20 million (18 million euros) overall.