[MSN] Malaysia. Antique Buddha statues stolen from gallery.

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Antique Buddha statues stolen from gallery
By Alang Bendahara
13 August, 2007

PETALING JAYA: A group of bungling burglars broke into an art gallery in Damansara Perdana here and carted away four antique Buddha statues. The problem is that they might not be able to sell the statues because it was part of a complete 18-statue set.

Although each statue is worth RM55,000, no collector would buy an incomplete set.

The entire collection is worth almost RM1 million but the burglars underestimated the sheer weight of the statues. Each statue weighs 5kg.

They could only carry off the four pieces without raising an alarm.

Gallery co-owner Wee Kok Yau, 34, said each statue was the size of a mineral water bottle.

He said each of the multi-coloured statues from China showed Buddha in different positions. All of them were over a century old.

"I came to the gallery to do some work and noticed the four statues missing.

"When I checked the premises, I discovered that the back door’s padlock was missing and the grille’s lock broken."

Wee said the robbers did not realise the true value of the collection.

"It is next to worthless if sold separately as it is valuable only in the set of 18 which will bring good fortune to its owner," he added.

The collection was never for sale and has been with Wee’s family for 50 years.

District police chief ACP Mazlan Mansor confirmed the incident and said they would view the closed-circuit television camera recording of the shopping complex at the Damansara Perdana condominium where the gallery is located.

He said forensic experts had also searched the gallery for evidence and fingerprints.

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