To verify Türkiye's claim to the statue, officials had to scratch at dirt buried in the statue with their fingernails in order to obtain soil samples. Ultimately, it was placed on display at the Cleveland Museum of Art. In 2021, these two organizations launched an investigation in tandem with Türkiye’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism to try and recover the artifacts which had been absconded from Boubon—including the Aurelius statue. Related Story Ancient Scrapyard Found Filled with Bronze StatuesBut a fingernail scratch wasn’t the only surprising method employed to try and ascertain, to the satisfaction of all parties, the origin of the Aurelius statue. On Valentine’s Day of 2025, the office for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. announced that the Cleveland Museum of Art had withdrawn its case and agreed to return the statue.