A thief masquerading as a monk stole centuries-old elephant statues from the ancient temples of Mrauk-U in Rakhine State and sold them on to smugglers in Thailand, according to archaeologists.
He had managed the feat three or four times before getting caught, the Global New Light of Myanmar reported.
“Its inconsolable [sic] to think to what extent these ancient elephant statues have been lost,” said Nu Mra San from the Department of Archaeology.
In recent years, the archeological site, Myanmar’s second most-famous after the temples at Bagan, has been plundered by thieves chiseling artifacts from the stone and damaged by botched restoration efforts.
“There’s a plethora of challenges facing conservation of ancient buildings,” said Khin Than, chairperson of the Mrauk-U Ancient Cultural Heritage preservation Group.
“The city of Mrauk-U was once Southeast Asia’s greatest fortified cantonment.
“Tenders were put out for restorations of areas of Mrauk-U but a great deal of highly valued Rakhine cultural handiworks – found in pagodas, walls and brick walls – were destroyed as those carrying out restorations were not archaeologists.”
