Los Angeles's prestigious J. Paul Getty Museum announced it would return to Italy a fragment of a Roman fresco dating from the first century BC. The museum said in a statement that the decision to return the wall fragment, which depicts a landscape scene, was taken after another piece was returned to Italy by a private collector.

"Our decision to return this fragment is based on a newly published image we saw about a year ago that included another fresco fragment that was being repatriated to Italy by a private collector," J. Paul Getty Museum Director Michael Brand said in a statement. "Seeing these fragments together made it clear that the two were part of the same wall design and belonged together."

The fresco fragment being returned by the Getty came into the museum's possession in 1996. It has now been removed from display at the Getty Villa and will be returned to the Italian Ministry of Culture next month the statement said.

In 2007 the Getty returned several antiquities to Italy which authorities had alleged were looted.

The Getty, set up by US oil billionaire and collector J. Paul Getty and one of the world's richest art museums, insists it never knowingly bought illegally uncovered artifacts.