Syria has recovered 36 antiquities valued at more than $5 million during a ceremony in New York, as part of efforts to combat illicit trafficking in antiquities and return looted cultural property to its country of origin.

Axar.az reports, citing SANA, the ceremony was attended by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Syria and Iraq Tom Barrack, Acting Chargé d’Affaires of the Syrian Embassy in Washington Mohammad Nasser Qanatri, and Syria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ibrahim Olabi, along with a number of officials and diplomats.

In a statement published on the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office website, Bragg said the repatriation of antiquities was “a powerful reminder that preserving cultural heritage transcends any border or nationality.”

“This was an incredibly complex and multifaceted investigation that would not have been possible without close partnerships spanning the globe, and I thank everyone involved for their tireless efforts and dedication,” Bragg said.

He said the objects returned included a monumental stone relief looted from the ancient city of Palmyra and 14 rare mosaics looted from a Roman villa in Syria. They form part of 31 Middle Eastern and North African antiquities seized by the office’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit.

Bragg said the Palmyran relief was smuggled from its original location at a time when the terrorist organization ISIS was engaged in systematic looting of archaeological sites in Syria.

He added that four of the antiquities returned were part of a collection of 180 objects, valued at $70 million, seized by the office from the collection of Michael Steinhardt, a prominent collector of ancient art. The objects were recovered following a multiyear criminal investigation spanning several countries.