A small marble fragment of the Parthenon frieze was returned to Greece yesterday by a woman who inherited the piece from her grandfather, Reuters reports.

The 2.8-by-12-inch piece contains an inscription saying it was taken by an Austrian soldier on February 16, 1943 — during the three-year occupation of Greece by the Axis powers. Martha Dahlgren, the woman who inherited the fragment, decided to return it to Greece.

"It was a very symbolic return," said Greek Culture Minister Michaelis Liapis of the gesture. Liapis also used the occasion to reiterate Greece's request for the return of the Parthenon Marbles, which currently reside in the British Museum: "The request for the return of the Parthenon Marbles has exceeded the borders of our country. It has become the request and the vision of the global cultural community," he said.

This is the third Parthenon fragment to go back to Greece recently. Last month, the Vatican lent Greece the marble head of a youth on one-year loan, and a Sicilian museum returned another piece in September.