A 60-year-old man has been arrested in Thessaloniki by the security police's antiquities division, charged with violation of the law on protection of antiquities and cultural heritage, after a trove of antiquities were found hidden in a cafe owned by his wife, police announced on Sunday.

The antiquities were discovered, and seized, during an early morning search on Saturday of the cafe premises in the Hortiatis district.

The oldest of the artifacts date back to the prehistoric era, according to the archaeologist who examined them. The finds include a post-Byzantine icon of the Virgin, pottery and fragments, a part of a marble stele and other items.

The man will be taken before a Thessaloniki prosecutor....