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 Jim Thorpe, director of Trebletap, was questioned over the company's plans to sell the 2ft bronze piece of buttock. 
 
 The piece was brought to the UK by the firm's founder Nigel Ely but failed to sell at an auction in Derby after failing to meet its reserve price. 
 
 Mr Ely, from Herefordshire, was questioned earlier this week. 
 
 Derbyshire police said the Iraqi government had made a complaint to the Metropolitan Police last week via the Iraqi Embassy. 
 
 The complaint had been passed to them as the agents and the statue were situated in Derby. 
 
 Mr Ely was issued with a notice, under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, advising him not to alter or dispose of the item until the matter is resolved. 
 
 Cultural property 
 
 Mr Thorpe was questioned on suspicion of breaching Section 8 of the Iraq (UN Sanctions) Order 2003 before being released on bail pending further inquiries. 
 
 Under the order, anyone possessing Iraqi cultural property must give it to the police. 
 
 Trebletap, which specialises in turning war memorabilia into pieces of art, told BBC Radio Derby earlier this week that it was keeping the statue in a secret location. 
 
 Mr Ely, a former SAS soldier, used a sledgehammer and chisel to remove the portion when the statue was brought down in central Baghdad at the end of Hussein's reign. 
 
 He said he planned to sell it to raise money for charity but withdrew it from sale at an auction in October after it failed to meet its £250,000 reserve. ||||| Saddam Hussein's 'bronze buttock' to be auctioned in Derby 
 
 The Saddam Hussein statue was brought down in April 2003 
 
 Continue reading the main story Related Stories 
 
 A chunk from the Saddam Hussein statue famously toppled in central Baghdad in 2003 is to be auctioned in Derby. 
 
 The 2ft (0.6m) wide bronze "buttock" was claimed by a former SAS soldier who brought it back to the UK. 
 
 Pictures of the statue being felled as the Iraqi dictator's reign ended were broadcast around the world. 
 
 Now Nigel Ely, who used a sledgehammer and crowbar to grab the unusual memento, hopes its sale will raise money for charity. 
 
 Mr Ely, from Herefordshire, was working with a TV crew covering the fall of Baghdad in April 2003 when he decided to claim the historic keepsake. 
 
 He said: "When we arrived in Firdos Square in the heart of Baghdad, the statue had just been toppled and the US Marines had erected a cordon of tanks to guard the square. 
 
 "But I wanted a piece of the statue - and when I mentioned to the marines that I was an old soldier and with the press they told me, 'No problem, buddy - help yourself'." 
 
 Arrested and searched 
 
 Finding the bronze statue face-down, the ex-serviceman enlisted the help of a marine armed with a crowbar and a sledgehammer to cut out half of the despot's backside. 
 
 He said: "I only wanted a piece big enough to put in my pocket, but I ended up with a chunk about 2ft square. 
 
 "I thought, 'What the hell am I going to do with this?' 
 
 "I threw it in the back of my truck and forgot about it until we tried to re-enter Kuwait, where the Kuwaiti army arrested us and searched us for plunder. 
 
 "The journalists with me had all their souvenirs confiscated, but when I said the buttock was vehicle armour to protect us from bullets and bombs they left it alone. 
 
 "The real pain came when I flew back to London a few days later. I'd bought a large case from the local souq [commercial area] to put the bum in and had to pay a fortune in excess baggage." 
 
 Mr Ely was charged £385 to fly the chunk home but it is expected to raise thousands of pounds when it is sold by auctioneers Hansons in Derby on 27 October. 
 
 Proceeds from the sale will go towards helping injured ex-servicemen from the UK and US. 
 
 Mr Ely said: "It's been with me all these years, but I decided it was time it did some good."
– A British company official has been arrested after auctioning a buttock section of the massive Saddam Hussein bronze statue toppled when US forces stormed Baghdad in 2003. The arrest was made after the Iraqi government issued a complaint to British police following an auction in Derby, where the two-foot hunk of metal failed to fetch the minimum price of $375,000 set for the sale. Under a 2003 British law, all cultural property seized in Iraq must be handed over to police, reports the BBC. The bronze butt was offered for sale by Trebletap, a company that specializes in turning war memorabilia into art. Company director Jim Thorpe was busted and has been released on bail. The firm's founder, Nigel Ely, is a former SAS soldier who was working for British TV on the scene when the statue was pulled down. He used a sledgehammer and chisel to remove the statue's "bum," he told the BBC. He claims that when he asked a US Marine if he could take the souvenir, he was told: "No problem, Buddy. Help yourself." He said he planned to sell it to raise money for an unspecified charity. He has been ordered not to dispose of the metal rear or alter it until the case is resolved. A Trebletop spokesman has said the bronze bum is being held in a secret location.