The board of Egypt's National Committee for Antiquities Repatriation (NCAR) assigned former antiquities minister Zahi Hawass to take restricted action against Toledo Museum of Art which put on sale 68 artefacts from its collection. The objects are from Cyprus, Rome and Egypt. In a telephone interview, Hawass told Ahram Online the he will send letters to UNESCO, the International Committee Of Museums (ICOM) and the US Congress as well as all international institutions to remove Toledo Museum from the ICOM, because it has offended the reputation of all museums by selling the world heritage. Hawass asserted that he would also send another letter to the Toledo museum threatening to prohibit children from visiting it because it is selling the heritage. Hawass will also send these letters on Sunday to Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany for discussion before sending them to the concerned international authorities and institutions. Early this month, Toledo Museum of Art in Ohaio put on sale a collection of 68 artefacts at Christies auction hall. The antiquities ministry had taken the required legal procedures in collaboration with Egypt's Embassy in New York to stop any transaction of these objects but the museum has put them on sale for $1.2 million.
