The officers, specialists in stolen artwork, were in the Spanish Mediterranean port city on other business when they stumbled across their find, which had been stolen from the garden of a villa in Rome in 2005.

The owner of the antique dealership said he thought the oval-shaped bathtub, was a modern copy of an antique.

He said he had bought at the end of 2005 for 3,000 euros (US$464) from another dealer and had it on sale for a mere 6,000 euros.

In fact the bathtub, which dates back to the era of the Roman emperor Hadrian, in the second century anno domini, is worth a cool 300,000 euros (US$464,000).

The only other surviving example is on display at the Vatican Museum.

Spanish police believe the bathtub, which weights half a ton, was transported to Spain by sea, most likely hidden in a shipping container.

It was handed over to the Italian authorities on Tuesday, they said.

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