(EthioPolitics.com) — Ambassador of France to Ethiopia Jean Christophe Bellard on Wednesday handed back the sacred St. Yared’s Cross to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

The cross, which was stolen at gun point in the early 90s, was returned by a French citizen who had kept for 18 years in Paris.

The cross belongs to the centuries-old treasury of the Tana Tcherqos church.

The patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Abune Paulos said several artifacts of Ethiopia are still being held in various European countries.

“All Ethiopians should strive to return the heritages to their country,” he said.