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A stolen Chinese calligraphy scroll worth millions was found in Hong Kong, after being cut in half.
The thieves had stolen Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong’s scroll from an art collector’s home in a robbery last month.
Then they sold it at a fraction of its value. It was apparently cut off because the 2.8m-long (9ft) roll was deemed too long to display, Hong Kong police said.
The original owner says the value of the artwork has been “definitely affected.”
Mass robbery
The scroll, which contains stanzas of poetry handwritten by the founder of the People’s Republic of China, is estimated to be around $ 300 million (£ 230 million) by its owner.
It was stolen in a mass robbery on September 10, when three men broke into the home of Fu Chunxiao, a well-known collector of stamps and revolutionary art.
Old stamps, copper coins and other pieces of Mao calligraphy were also taken. The total loot was worth HK $ 5 billion ($ 645 million, £ 500 million), according to Fu, who was reportedly in mainland China when the theft occurred.
The thieves sold one of the pieces to another art collector for just HK $ 500 ($ 64, £ 50) to a buyer who, according to The South China Morning Post, believed the artwork was fake.
The buyer then saw a public appeal from the police and turned himself in with both pieces of the parchment on September 22.
It is unclear who exactly cut the artwork. Hong Kong Police Superintendent Tony Ho said: “Someone thought the calligraphy was too long … and difficult to display and display. That’s why it was cut in half.”
“It was heartbreaking to see it split in two,” Fu told the Post. “It will definitely affect its value, but the impact remains to be seen.”
Police later arrested the 49-year-old buyer on suspicion of handling stolen property, although he has now been released on bail.
A suspected burglar has also been arrested, but the other two burglars who broke into Mr. Fu’s home are still at large.
