According to Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for Secretary-General António Guterres, they do not know why Rockefeller wanted the tapestry back, but Guterres made an effort to keep the UN.
"The tapestry was not only a moving reminder of the horrors of war, but because of its location it has also witnessed so much history that has taken place outside the Security Council since 1985," says Dujarric.
Picasso's "Guernica" is a memorial to the small Basque town of the same name, which was completely destroyed in 1937 by a Nazi bomber in the service of the Spanish fascists.