An American man has been arrested following the theft of a thumb belonging to a 2,000 year-old terracotta warrior (one of 10 on loan in the exhibition) while it was on display at the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, the Guardian reports. According to security footage, Michael Rohana allegedly stole the thumb on the evening of a pre-Christmas office party on 21 December when he entered the locked exhibition using his phone as a torch, hugged the statue and took a selfie before appearing to snap off the warrior’s thumb. Rohana was arrested five days later, and admitted to having kept the thumb in his desk draw. Wu Haiyun, who is head of the group that loans the terracotta army to overseas museums has said: ‘We ask that the US severely punish the perpetrator’. Another official told South China Morning Post: ‘The terracotta warriors are national treasures of our country… Their historical and artistic value are impossible to value… We express strong resentment and condemnation towards this theft and the destruction of our heritage.’
19 February 2018
