News Shrine and temples burgled

Of more concern to temples and shrines are the increasingly frequent thefts of religious statues and ancient artefacts that are all too often on open display. In early May, police from Kyoto Prefecture responded to an advert placed on an online auction site by an antique dealer in Oita Prefecture for a Buddhist statue. Bids started at Y1,000 (US$7.85) for what was described as a statue in good condition and standing 47cm tall. The item very quickly attracted more bids, the highest of which was Y175,000 (US$1,373), before authorities contacted the antique dealer, and told him to remove it from the auction site. [...] The case is one of the hundreds across the country authorities believe – temples and shrines in Wakayama Prefecture alone have reported the theft of around 300 statues since 2008 – with an accurate figure difficult to ascertain because officials may not be aware that items have been stolen from rural and rarely visited sites.

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