Man in M’sia steals 12 statues from Chinese temple & tosses them into the sea

Man in Malaysia tossed 12 statues from Chinese temple into sea, 4 recovered so far

As they were shutting their gates for the day, the caretakers of a Chinese temple in Malaysia found that 12 of their statues were missing. They later found out that a man had stolen and tossed them into the sea.

With the police’s assistance, the temple was able to track down where the missing statues were tossed. Over the next few days, four statues were recovered.

According to China Press, the temple discovered the theft on 12 June.

Source: China Press

Theft caught on security footage

As the staff were closing the temple at about 7pm, they discovered that 12 of the statues were missing. Security footage showed a man packing the statues into three boxes before driving off with them.

Source: China Press

One of the stolen statues belongs to a local who had placed it at the temple for relocation purposes.

Source: China Press

After contacting the police, staff at the temple spoke to the man, who claimed he had thrown the statues into the sea.

Nearby eyewitnesses confirmed they had spotted the man tossing the statues.

Recovery efforts partially successful

That evening, the temple’s directors, along with a group of volunteers, began searching for the missing statues along the coast.

Source: China Press

One of the volunteers also coordinated with local fishermen to send boats out to assist in the search. By a stroke of luck, just as the boats were about to dock and end their search at 11pm, one of the statues was found.

Over the next three days, directors from the temple took turns patrolling in search of the statues. They found three more statues, but the rest are still unaccounted for.

Source: China Press

Of the four statues recovered, only three were successfully repaired. The statue that could not be repaired had its hand broken.

According to World of Buzz, the temple estimates the losses to be between RM20,000 (S$6,033) and RM30,000 (S$9,049). It is unclear if legal action is being taken against the thief.