In 1937, during the Italian occupation of Ethiopia, Mussolini's troops dismantled a 1,700-year-old Aksumite stele (obelisk) and transported it to Rome. It stood in front of the Ministry of Italian Africa for decades. The obelisk became a major point of diplomatic tension; despite a 1947 UN agreement for its return, it wasn't until 2005 that the 160-ton monument was finally flown back to Axum in three pieces and re-erected in 2008. Its journey back is considered a landmark case in the repatriation of cultural artifacts and a victory for Ethiopian national identity.