Practitioners of the ancient Greek religion gathered among the ruined temples at the Acropolis Sunday, praying to Athena to stop the removal of sculptures and pieces of the temples to museums.

Participants claimed it was the first such gathering since the ancient religion was officially abolished late in the 4th century.

"We believe that the structural elements of a temple should not be moved and we worry about the consequences," said high priestess Doretta Peppa.

Peppa's Athens-based group — called Ellinais, an acronym in Greek for "Sacred Society of Greek Ancient Religionists" — is campaigning to revive the ancient religion. The group has defied Culture Ministry bans on holding prayers at several ancient temples.

On Sunday, about 200 people, by Peppa's estimate, prayed to Athena, the goddess of wisdom and patron of ancient Athens, to protect the 2,500-year-old site and spare the city from harm.

"Is it a coincidence that rain started falling when the ceremony started and ended at the same time as the ceremony? I think not," Peppa said.

Police made no effort to disrupt the 20-minute convocation.