In the first three weeks of June 1996 over 13,000 of the inhabitants of Aksum, the largest number of signatories in Ethiopia ever to have joined together on a single issue, signed an important petition. It demanded the immediate return from Rome of the Aksum obelisk, looted on the personal orders of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini in 1937, and not yet returned in accordance with Article 37 of the 1947 Peace Treaty between Italy and the United Nations.
In this petition the people of Aksum demanded the immediate restitution of the 24 metre high obelisk, which is believed to date from before the early fourth century BC. The obelisk, the second largest of Aksum's three main obelisks, is taller, and considerably finer than the one than the one currently standing in Aksum.
The historic Aksum People's Petition reads as follows:
"We, the people of Aksum, recall that our second largest obelisk was unjustly taken from our city by fascist Italy in 1937;
"We further recall that this obelisk should have been returned in accordance with Article 37 of the Italian Peace Treaty with the United Nations, which specified that all loot taken from Ethiopia after 3 October 1935, i.e. the date of the fascist invasion, should be returned within 18 months;
"We also recall that the Ethiopian Federal Parliament passed a unanimous resolution, on 8 February of this year, demanding for the obelisk's immediate return.
"We too are most anxious see the obelisk, our priceless historical heritage, returned to Aksum as soon as possible, and, supporting the Ethiopian Parliament's unanimous resolution, hereby petition for our obelisk's immediate restitution".