One of the last missing pieces of Byzantine art stolen from Cyprus was handed back this week by a renowned Dutch art investigator, who found it in the possession of an unwitting British family.

For Arthur Brand - dubbed the "Indiana Jones of the art world" thanks to his exploits to recover stolen works - the handover was the result of a nearly two-year chase across Europe.

The artefact is valued at between €5-10 million euros (£4.4-8.9 million).

"This is a very special piece that's more than 1,600 years old. It's one of the last and most beautiful examples of art from the early Byzantine era," Mr Brand told AFP.

Mr Brand said he returned the depiction of Saint Mark during a private ceremony on Friday at the Cypriot embassy in The Hague.

Through a series of intermediaries - including several in the underground world - Mr Brand finally traced the missing mosaic to an apartment in Monaco.