China Wants to Return 1000-Year-Old Mummified Buddha Lost Two Decades Ago

Chinese authorities apparently want to return a 1,000-year-old mummy of a Buddhist monk that resurfaced in the Netherlands in 2014 and until recently was on display at an exhibition in Hungary, AFP reports.

The statue was stolen from the village of Yangchun, Fujian province, in 1995, the local Cultural Relic Bureau said. It belongs to a private collector in the Netherlands, who allegedly bought it legally almost two decades ago.

The authorities were able to identify the statue due to a large number of photos and historical records, provided by the villagers.

The Cultural Relic Bureau in the Fujian province will report its findings to the national cultural authorities, as well as continue its own investigation into the lost statue.