The Australia War Memorial says returning an ancient Palestinian mosaic to the Middle East would be difficult, but has acknowledged that the precious artefact would not be accepted into its collection under today's standards.
The Shellal Mosaic was uncovered by Australian soldiers in Palestine during the World War I, and was brought to the country where it was installed into a wall of the memorial in Canberra 81 years ago.
There have been calls for the nearly 1500-year-old mosaic to be returned to its place of origin, however a spokesperson for the memorial said that could result in the artefact being damaged.
"When the Shellal Mosaic was installed in 1941 it was securely adhered to a structural wall beneath the Hall of Memory," the spokesperson said.
"The Memorial would not accept an item such as this today and any repatriation is complex, and it may further damage what remains of this precious work.
"The Australian War Memorial is committed to acknowledging and understanding how artefacts enter into the national collection."
The Byzantine mosaic, which is inside the Hall of Valour, once formed the floor of a church near Gaza.
According to historians, Australian troops found it while digging a trench in 1917 and it was excavated and dismantled with the support of amateur archaeologist and senior Chaplin to the ANZAC Mounted Division Reverend Maitland Woods.
Ethical and legal questions about the mosaic's presence in Australia have been raised over the years, and the artwork was recently the subject of an episode of the ABC documentary series, Stuff the British Stole.
It aired the views of a Palestinian expert with the Jericho Mosaic Centre who said the artwork was a missing piece of cultural heritage, while the Israel Antiquities Authority described it as "stolen property" and said nowadays its removal would be considered a war crime.
The land where the artefact was found in 1917 is now governed by Israel, adding to the complexity of any future repatriation.
When asked whether it was right for Australia to keep the mosaic, the Minister for Veterans Affairs and Defence Personnel Matt Keogh did not directly answer the question, but conceded the "artwork would not be accepted in the present day".
"The Australian War Memorial features many artworks and artefacts that tell the stories of Australia's historical and present-day involvement in military operations and conflicts," Mr Keogh said.
"The removal of any items from any site in Australia or overseas by defence personnel is actively discouraged by defence."
