Is Starbucks' ceiling in London stolen from Syria or was it an Ottoman gift?

Starbucks coffee shops look pretty much the same everywhere in the world. You have the dark wood decor with dim lighting, black metal fixtures, and hints of green here and there. These colors and textures have always represented the all-American coffee shop, even when you disregard the Medusa-like head on its cups and signs. One might even argue children are able to spot a Starbucks a mile away before they can even spell their own names. 

One particular Starbucks, however, stands out from the rest; quite the rare occurrence yet not to be compared to the world's fanciest branch in China. It's located on Vigo Street in London, the UK and is situated between London's Savile Row and Regent Street in Mayfair, an affluent area in the West End of the city. 

The neighborhood coffee store first opened its doors in 2012 after major renovations transformed the 110-year-old building, which reportedly housed office spaces in the past. Today, it stands fully transfixed in "exposed marble columns and a restored mahogany and mother-of-pearl Turkish ceiling."

The intricately hand-carved ceiling apparently belongs to a Damascus bath or coffee house that "came" to London in 1903. It was originally featured on the building which used to be an oriental carpet gallery. (It is unclear whether that was before or after the building became an office space.) 

Ironically, the background information found on the original Starbucks website fails to mention the origin of the clearly Middle Eastern ceiling, only describing it as "one of the few elements of the original building that survived World War II largely undisturbed."

If you zoom in, you can clearly see the words "Al Sultan Abdul Hamid" carved on one of the big panels on the ceiling, indicating that it was carved in the name of the ruling sultan at the time. 

Another scripture also reveals the name "Al Sultan Al Ghazi Abdul Hamid Khan." Across the middle of the frequented coffee shop, a huge wooden table is situated underneath custom-made chandeliers. 

The style of this particular location isn't reminiscent of your typical Starbucks next door, which meant people had questions. Many online users were left wondering how a historical artifact of such value and craftsmanship ended up in London. The latter is commonly known as the "wealth and history theft capital of the world," which is why reading comments that cite a private auction as a probable backstory isn't odd or new.

When an entire culture is built on robbing and looting from those they colonized for centuries, it is hard to let something like this pass ... and so the comments poured.