What happened to the intricate iron scrollwork from the 1st class staircases?

[Rich Hayden]

I know there are images of the panels of iron scrollwork on the sea floor, taken in 1985/6, which appear in Ballard's 'Discovery' book. None have ever been seen since though, right? Like the statuette of Diana from the 1st class lounge, they seem to have disappeared completely?

What do you think happened to them? I've heard it claimed that they were covered up by sediment drifting in the current, but they seemed to lie there quite happily from 1912 to 1985, so why were they never seen again in the debris field? Maybe most of them floated away with the wooden structure itself and were deposited elsewhere, but Ballard definitely saw some in the 1980s.

 

[William Oakes]

If I had to make an educated guess, it is probable that they were taken in the rogue dive in 2002.

 

[Rich Hayden]

If I had to make an educated guess, it is probable that they were taken in the rogue dive in 2002.

What do we know about that? I read, ages ago now, that the Diana statue from the 1st class lounge could've been taken in an illegal operation too. I'm guessing part of the same event.