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If Rome calls up the Ministry of Tradition in Israel and says they want to return the vessels they have from the Beit Hamikdash, including the Menorah, what would be the halachic considerations for the transfer and storage? Who can and should handle these vessels? Where can they be stored? What other relevant halachot would be involved?
Note: According to R' Shmuel Eliyahu, that's exactly what they just did. See here as well.
Whether or not captured Temple Vessels still retain their level of holiness depends on the interpretation of a passage in the Gemara. The Gemara (Nedarim 62a) writes that when Belshatzar used the vessels of the Mikdash, he desecrated their kedushah and they became mundane.
ומה בלשצר שנשתמש בכלי קודש שנעשו כלי חול, שנאמר (יחזקאל ז, כב) "ובאו בה פריצים וחיללוה", כיון שפרצום נעשו חול
This idea is echoed in Gemara (Avoda Zara 52b) [explaining how the vessels were prohibited due to Idol worship, disregarding the principle of אין אדם אוסר דבר שאינו שלו - one cannot prohibit an item one doesn't own]:
אמר רב פפא התם קרא אשכח ודרש דכתיב (יחזקאל ז, כב) ובאו בה פריצים וחללוה
Rashi explains that when the gentiles entered the Temple, the vessels lost their kedushah [which allowed the Gentiles to acquire them, and thus they were prohibited with the idol worship].
דכתיב ובאו בה פריצים וחללוה - מכיון שנכנסו עובדי כוכבים להיכל יצאו כליו לחולין וכיון דנפקי לחולין קנינהו בהפקירא והוו להו דידהו וכשנשתמשו בהן לעבודת כוכבים נאסרו:
This Gemara is the subject of a large dispute between Ramban (Milchamos Hashem, Avoda Zara) and Ba'al Hamaor. According to Baal Hamaor, the only way Temple Vessels are desecrated is through the process of meilah [loosely: the misuse of consecrated items, through which they become desecrated]. Accordingly, it would only be if used by Jews, and are subject to a list of criteria beyond the scope of this answer [See Rambam Hil. Meilah]. Notably, it would not apply to most Temple Vessels which had kedushas haguf.
The Ramban disagrees with Baal Hamaor - primarily because the Temple Vessels have kedushas haguf status, which is not subject to desecration through meilah; adittionally, desecration through meilah is specifically through inadvertent use; furthermore, the walls of the Temple itself are not subject to meilah, and they too were desecrated through the Temple invasion.
Ramban argues that 'באו פריצים וחללוה' is not through the process of meilah, but a totally separate halachic clause that when captured by gentiles, the Temple Vessels lose their kedushah.
אלא ודאי על ידי עובדי כוכבים יצאו לחולין, דקרא בעובדי כוכבים כתיב, שהרי נביא מתנבא על המקדש שיחרב, ואמר שיצא לחולין על ידם, וגזירת הכתוב היה הכל, אע"פ שאין מעילה בקרקעות ואע"פ שאינם בני מעילה, והיינו דכתיב נמי (יחזקאל ז, כא) 'ונתתיו ביד הזרים לבז ולרשעי הארץ לשלל וחללוהו', וכלים דאחז לא יצאו לחולין, דלא בישראל כתיב קרא
Accordingly, it would seem that Rashi and Ramban would consider the vessels captured by the Romans as devoid of any kedushah and therefore not subject to the general laws of consecrated Temple Vessels.
However, many commentators have posed numerous difficulties with the opinion of the Ramban*, and have been forced to suggest various alternative interpretations of the Ramban.
According to some**, the Ramban only proposes a temporary desecration - in the duration of the Vessels' captivity under Gentile authority, they lose their holiness. This holiness is automatically reinstated upon return to Jewish hands.
*For example, how after the Maccabean Revolt did the Temple regain it's kedusha. According to Ramban that the Temple itself is also subject to the desecration of ובאו פריצים וחללוה, it should have lost any kedusha with the conquest of the Greeks. See Sheilas David (OC 3), .
** Beis Yitzchak (OC 27), Afikei Mayim (R' Moshe Shapira, Chanuka pg 81)
