Police are on the hunt for a brazen couple who were caught on video stealing a marble Reclining Buddha statue straight from the altar at the Penang Buddhist Association. The object is estimated to be worth RM10,000 (US$2,500) and is nearly 100 years old.
If you’re asking yourself right now… is nothing sacred anymore? We’ll answer that for you: not really.
Similar to other thieves who use the guise of worship to pilfer, the couple had initially pretended to pray, while waiting for the hall to clear out.
While the theft occurred on the morning of Dec. 11, worshippers only noticed the missing statue on Wednesday, and alerted authorities.
CCTV footage of the incident made its way onto the popular Facebook group of grievances and biker tricks, We Are Malaysians, and went viral.
The clip shows the woman giving the man a boost over the two-meter tall altar to grab the statue. He then promptly shoved the Buddha into a black bag the woman then carried out.
The man in the video wears glasses, a blue shirt, and white shorts, while the woman looked equally nondescript, wearing a white blouse and black skirt.
Police were unable to lift any fingerprints from the crime scene, and the Penang Buddhist Association does not recognize the couple.
The association president told The Star that while there are employees and CCTV cameras around to keep watch, “sometimes, incidents of such nature are beyond our control.”
Probably the most on-brand, Zen thing you could say about the whole matter.
