The spokesman for Compromís in the National Senate, Carles Mulet, has once again lamented the government’s refusal to allow the return of the Lady of Elche to its city of origin from it’s current home in Madrid’s National Archaeological Museum (MAN).

In his latest argument Mulet, a senator from Valencia, told the regional parliament that Madrid museum is not fit to look after the sculpture and that it should be returned to Valencia.

The said that MAN has some explaining to do after a visitor posted a video on Twitter of an ant crawling around inside the glass display case – supposedly airtight – housing the Lady of Elche, a national treasure dating back to the fifth century BC.

“None of the minimal protocols were followed by the museum”, said Mulet, observing on the ant’s entry into the case. “That would never have happened to the Lady of Elche in her place of origin,” he said.

Mulet continued: “this is a symptom of the greed of a centralist government that believes that only people in the capital should enjoy important archaeological finds, despite Madrid being a city that has contributed nothing significant” to the museum’s collection.

Visit Elche, a tourism group that is based in the city, has launched a social media campaign calling for the return of the figure to its original home, saying: “You can silence an ant, but not the whole anthill” it is quoted as writing on it’s website.