George Clooney touches nerve in Britain with comments on disputed Parthenon Marbles

LONDON – If George Clooney thought the battle over art’s rightful ownership — the subject of his World War II movie “The Monuments Men” — was confined to the past, he knows better now.

The actor-director has touched a nerve in Britain by suggesting the 2,500-year-old Parthenon Marbles should be returned to Greece.

At a news conference Tuesday, Clooney called for “an open discussion” on the fate of the ancient friezes, taken by British diplomat Lord Elgin 200 years ago.

He said both the Vatican and the J. Paul Getty Museum had sent parts of the marbles back, and trying to reunite the whole work might be “the right thing to do.”

“The Monuments Men” tells the true story of the wartime battle to save Europe’s artistic treasures.