George Clooney has struck back at Boris Johnson, after the wily-haired Mayor of London compared the affable Hollywood heartthrob to one of the evilest men in history.

Johnson's comments came after The Monuments Men star suggested that Britain take proper steps to return the 2,500-year-old Elgin Marbles to it's original home of Greece.

As part of his column for the Telegraph, the Mayor wrote that Clooney had "lost his marbles" over the Elgin affair, before adding: "And where were the Nazis going to send the Elgin marbles? To Athens! This Clooney is advocating nothing less than the Hitlerian agenda for London's cultural treasures."

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And the usually good-humoured Clooney wasn't about the let Johnson's words go unchallenged.

"I'm a great fan of the Mayor, and I'm sure my right honorable friend had no real intention of comparing me to Hitler," Clooney said in a statement to the Huffington Post UK.

"I'd chalk it up to a little too much hyperbole washed down with a few whiskeys. I've found myself in the same spot a time or two so I hold no ill will.

Shape Created with Sketch. In pictures: politicians do the silliest things Show all 23 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. In pictures: politicians do the silliest things 1/23 Puzzled Clegg Nick Clegg shows us how difficult it is to rub your head and pat your tummy and be a Lib Dem leader 2/23 Al Capickles Tinker, Tailor, Soldier....Pie? PA 3/23 Toad of Toad Hall? An amphibious Farage down at the floods over the weekend. PA 4/23 David Cameron One Brentford worker shows how we all feel when David Cameron starts talking about the 'global race' 5/23 Copycats When the Conservatives launched the hashtag #SameOldLabour little did they realise how similar Labour politicians really were 6/23 Back to school George Osborne didn't think much of the new sex app for Google Glass 7/23 Bullish Ed Balls with his 'cash cow' 8/23 Boris being Boris The Mayor of London shows why there's hope for us all 9/23 Halo effect Ed Balls has *another* bright idea 10/23 Oh Osborne George Osborne does an impression of a man without a brain. 11/23 Miliband, Clegg and Cameron Three men make a tiger? 12/23 Nick Clegg in the smallest chair in the world 13/23 Boris really does get around This picture tweeted by Oxfam's campaigns and policy director appears to show a Boris Bike turning up in The Gambia, proving that Boris really does get around. David Kiely 14/23 Miliband on the unions? Ed Miliband reveals who he'd like to get his hands on 15/23 Not everybody finds Boris funny This information board at Clapham South tube station quoted London Mayor Boris Johnson promising to safeguard ticket offices in 2010 Jack Leather/Channel 5/Twitter 16/23 Ghoulish Osborne 17/23 Gove may have finally resorted to prayer. 18/23 No comment. Herr Farage: The Ukip leader Nigel Farage was on the BBC busy defending himself against all sorts of allegations about off-colour goings-on as a young man, when, alas!, a transmission glitch appeared to endow Farage with a moustache last seen on a political leader who liked Europe so much he decided to invade most of it 70 years ago 19/23 Boris Johnson supporting.. squatting? A protest sign is held up as London Mayor Boris Johnson launches The Year of the Bus from a Routemaster bus outside City Hall in London 20/23 Theresa May Theresa May shows us she knows all about terror (*inspiring it that is) Stefan Rousseau/PA 21/23 Ukipissshhhh (hiccough) What Nigel Farage thinks of drinking Reuters 22/23 Clegg's actual Christmas card Nick Clegg's Christmas card.. those bootees are fabulous. Liberal Democrats 23/23 Diane Abbott This 2004 painting of MP Diane Abbott cost £11,750. But the real question.. why was she naked? 1/23 Puzzled Clegg Nick Clegg shows us how difficult it is to rub your head and pat your tummy and be a Lib Dem leader 2/23 Al Capickles Tinker, Tailor, Soldier....Pie? PA 3/23 Toad of Toad Hall? An amphibious Farage down at the floods over the weekend. PA 4/23 David Cameron One Brentford worker shows how we all feel when David Cameron starts talking about the 'global race' 5/23 Copycats When the Conservatives launched the hashtag #SameOldLabour little did they realise how similar Labour politicians really were 6/23 Back to school George Osborne didn't think much of the new sex app for Google Glass 7/23 Bullish Ed Balls with his 'cash cow' 8/23 Boris being Boris The Mayor of London shows why there's hope for us all 9/23 Halo effect Ed Balls has *another* bright idea 10/23 Oh Osborne George Osborne does an impression of a man without a brain. 11/23 Miliband, Clegg and Cameron Three men make a tiger? 12/23 Nick Clegg in the smallest chair in the world 13/23 Boris really does get around This picture tweeted by Oxfam's campaigns and policy director appears to show a Boris Bike turning up in The Gambia, proving that Boris really does get around. David Kiely 14/23 Miliband on the unions? Ed Miliband reveals who he'd like to get his hands on 15/23 Not everybody finds Boris funny This information board at Clapham South tube station quoted London Mayor Boris Johnson promising to safeguard ticket offices in 2010 Jack Leather/Channel 5/Twitter 16/23 Ghoulish Osborne 17/23 Gove may have finally resorted to prayer. 18/23 No comment. Herr Farage: The Ukip leader Nigel Farage was on the BBC busy defending himself against all sorts of allegations about off-colour goings-on as a young man, when, alas!, a transmission glitch appeared to endow Farage with a moustache last seen on a political leader who liked Europe so much he decided to invade most of it 70 years ago 19/23 Boris Johnson supporting.. squatting? A protest sign is held up as London Mayor Boris Johnson launches The Year of the Bus from a Routemaster bus outside City Hall in London 20/23 Theresa May Theresa May shows us she knows all about terror (*inspiring it that is) Stefan Rousseau/PA 21/23 Ukipissshhhh (hiccough) What Nigel Farage thinks of drinking Reuters 22/23 Clegg's actual Christmas card Nick Clegg's Christmas card.. those bootees are fabulous. Liberal Democrats 23/23 Diane Abbott This 2004 painting of MP Diane Abbott cost £11,750. But the real question.. why was she naked?

"When it comes to real facts, not imagined history, you need only to look at the UNESCO rulings that have been agreed to by all parties.

"An occupying nation can't sell off the national heritage of the country it occupies.

" More relevant is the fact that the Parthenon Marbles were chipped away from the Parthenon by the occupying Turks and sold. It was a single monument broken into bits. It would be as if the statue of David's head were sold to England. His arm to the Vatican. And his torso to the Met.

"There are many pieces in nearly every country that this conversation should take place. The best place to start would be at the most obvious object. When polled the British people are overwhelmingly in favour[sic] of their return.

"The rest of the world follows suit. If you want to deal in facts. Those are the facts. But maybe it's just easier to compare me to Hitler."

The actor voiced his opinion on the sculptures, which were taken to Britain from the Parthenon in Greece in the 19th century, during a press conference to promote his new film, The Monuments Men.

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Set in World War II, the movie, which Clooney has directed, written and stars in, is about a platoon of soldiers on a mission to rescue art masterpieces from Nazi thieves and return them to their owners.

"Even in England the polling is in favour of returning the marbles from the Pantheon [sic], the Pantheon marbles," he said.

He went on to add that parts of the Parthenon has been given back by the Vatican already, and that returning the pieces displayed at the British Museum was "probably the right thing to do".

Watch the trailer for The Monuments Men