Athens Kopis

[Renatus]

Did you read the rest of the post?

Of course I did. I agree with the sentiment but not the method.

If you make it policy to destroy all illegally-obtained artefacts, there will be less of an incentive for looters to do their dirty work . . . Destroy the artefacts, and it should make people think twice. That includes the looters.

This is cloud-cuckoo land. The looters don't give a toss, once they've got the money.
 

By confiscating objects, you're only hurting the buyers.

Precisely, and the more you hurt them, the less inclined they will be to buy. The less they buy, the less incentive there is for the looters to loot.

Destroying the item is cutting off your nose to spite your face. The looter doesn't care; he has got the money. The buyer doesn't care; he has lost anyway. The only person who cares is the academic, the very one for whom you would want to preserve the object, because he cannot make use of it to extract whatever knowledge it may still be able to provide.