The Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage and the Italian Task Force "Unite4Heritage"

The Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage (TPC) is the first Police Specialized Unit created with the sole aim to contrast the illicit traffic of Cultural Property. Its structure and tasks have evolved during the years, and the operative results achieved demonstrate the effectiveness of its system. Its most significant tool is the database of illegally removed cultural artifacts "Leonardo", the biggest database of "stolen works of art" in the world. In 2015, in answer to the numerous threats to Cultural Heritage of Humankind, Italy created the Task Force "Unite4Heritage" (TF U4H), a rapidly deployable unit composed by personnel of the Carabinieri TPC and experts of the Ministry of Culture, that can be sent anywhere in the world (given a security framework) in order to help local authorities in protecting cultural property in danger. The first intervention of the TF U4H, however, was in Italy, in the areas hit by the earthquakes of 2016 and 2017. The intervention of the TF allowed the recovery movable Cultural Property in the area, almost 30000 objects. Two members of the TF are now in Iraq, starting the cooperation with local authorities in order to assess the damage carried out by ISIL and contrast the looting and the illicit exportation still ongoing in the area. Returning stolen object to their place of origin is the mission of the TPC, but is a mission that can be fulfilled only through international cooperation.