PARIS— The mayor of Rouen recently arranged to return to New Zealand a Maori head that has been part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Natural History at Rouen in Normandy since 1875. The decision set off a firestorm of controversy over whether the head is a body part or art, the New York Times reports. The national Ministry of Culture stepped in to block the mayor's plan, saying the head is a work of art that belongs to France. Olivier Henrard, the legal adviser for the Ministry of Culture, referred to a 2002 law that states that works of art are “inalienable." "There are other Maori heads, there are mummies, there are religious relics in France,” he said. “If we don’t respect the law today, tomorrow other museums or elected officials might decide to send them back, too.”

However, authorities in Rouen contend the head is a body part that, according to France’s bioethics law, should be returned. “This object reflects the barbaric trafficking in body parts, the belief that another race was inferior to ours,” said Catherine Morin-Desailly, Rouen’s deputy mayor for culture and a senator.

The Field Museum of natural history in Chicago returned a Maori head and other bones to New Zealand in September. New York's American Museum of Natural History owns more than 30 Maori heads.