CHICAGO -- A fascinating part of the story in Iraq is unfolding at the University of Chicago, where a group of intrepid scholars are playing detective, trying to recover artifacts stolen in the chaos of war.

The images of the looting of artifacts as Baghdad fell are memorable ones, and as NBC5's Phil Rogers reported Tuesday, many of those works were originally unearthed decades ago by U. of C. archeologists.

Now, the archeologists have launched a high-tech effort to get the artworks back.

Images: Ancient Artifacts Sought

"It was a year ago that a mob stormed the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad, taking with them thousands of items dating to the very dawn of civilization," Rogers said.

"The latest count I heard was talking about 15,000 objects (that) are still missing," Dr. Clemens Reichel (pictured, right), of the University of Chicago, told NBC5.

"Priceless objects. Irretrievable objects," he added.

Many of those objects continue to be trafficked on the open market.

"You could probably still buy some items from the museum (in Baghdad today)," U. of C.'s Dr. McGuire Gibson (pictured, below right) told Rogers.

Reviewing a collection of cylinder seals, which he referred to as "calling cards of the ancient world," Rogers said their value cannot be calculated, but 5,000 of them were stolen from the Baghdad museum.

One such seal depicts a temple and a goat, or a gazelle.

Reichel said, "It doesn't take too much to read this as a seal that would have been held by a temple official."

It's a long way from Baghdad to Chicago, Rogers said, but important work is being done here to recover the items that were lost.

At the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute, staffers and volunteers have spent months painstakingly cataloging and posting on the internet images of items believed to have been stolen. Many of them were unearthed in Institute expeditions, with companion pieces housed in Chicago.

It's their hope that wide-thinking people worldwide will join in the hunt for the priceless treasures.

"The possible scenario could be someone working as a cleaning lady in an antique store seeing something that looks suspicious," Reichel said.

A thousand items turned up in New York alone, according to Rogers. They have been spotted in France and London and "could be, literally, anywhere in the world," he said.

"The real immorality is in the smuggling and dealing and the collecting," Gibson said.

Rogers suggested a visit to the Oriental Institute's Web site for a "fascinating look at what's missing and what's been found."

He also recommended a visit the Oriental Institute's galleries for a look at the priceless treasures which are still being sought.