A New Orleans couple’s gardening project this year inadvertently uncovered a 2,000-year-old Roman marble tablet, setting off an international mystery that spanned decades. Daniella Santoro, an anthropologist at Tulane University, and Aaron Lorenz discovered the relic in their historic Carrollton home in March while clearing undergrowth. The marble tablet, etched with Latin inscriptions, was identified as a funerary artifact for a sailor named Sextus Congenius Verus by historians, including Tulane University professor Susann Lusnia, who played a key role in confirming its origins. The artifact had been missing from a museum in Civitavecchia, Italy, since the mid-1940s, when Allied bombing damaged the museum. The relic’s return to Italy was facilitated by Erin Scott O’Brien, the former owner of the Carrollton home, who had placed the stone in her garden in 2004. O’Brien’s grandparents, Charles and Adele Paddock, who had lived in Italy during World War II, may have acquired the artifact during their time there. The Paddocks passed away in the 1980s, leaving the relic in O’Brien’s possession. Now, after a collaborative effort involving the FBI’s Art Crime Team, historians, and museum officials, the artifact is set to be returned to Civitavecchia, where it will find its rightful place in the museum. The repatriation process highlights the intertwined histories of New Orleans and Italy, as well as the enduring legacies of World War II. The discovery underscores the significance of preserving cultural heritage and the role of historical expertise in bringing such artifacts back to their origins.