Greek politicians are campaigning for the Elgin Marbles to be returned to Athens as part of the Brexit negotiation between Britain and the European Union.

Stelios Kouloglou, a member of the European Parliament for the governing hard-left Syriza party, claims that EU treaty law means that the European Commission Brexit negotiators must raise the controversial issue.

The Elgin or Parthenon Marbles are a collection of sculptures, inscriptions and architectural features acquired by Lord Elgin between 1801 and 1805. Lord Elgin has been accused of stealing them or bribing officials to remove them from the Parthenon. They are now housed in the British Museum, which insists the marbles were legally bought from the Ottoman Empire, which ruled Athens at the time.

Mr Kouloglou, a highly respected investigative journalist, has twice written to the commission asking for the marbles to be part of the Brexit negotiations.

“Brexit negotiators must take into account the need to protect European cultural heritage,” he wrote.

“The Parthenon Marbles are considered as the greatest symbol of European culture. Therefore, reuniting the marbles would be both a sign of respect and civilised relationship between Great Britain and the EU, and much more [than] a legal necessity.”

The European Commission told The Telegraph that it did not believe that Articles 3, 50 and 167 of the Treaty of the EU meant their negotiating team were legally bound to address the long-running saga.