Museums China calls on US to punish terracotta warrior thumb thief American man arrested for alleged destruction of ancient statue at Philadelphia exhibitionExcavations of the terracotta warrior army in the tomb of the emperor Qin Shi Huang in China. Photograph: Museum of the Terracotta Army/PAChinese authorities are demanding exemplary punishment for an American man who allegedly stole a terracotta warrior’s thumb while it was on show at a Philadelphia museum. “Rohana admitted … he had stashed the thumb in his desk drawer,” China’s official news agency Xinhua reported. On Monday, Wu Haiyun, the head of the group that loans the terracotta army to overseas museums, told Chinese television a “serious protest” had been lodged. He is one member of the terracotta army, an 8,000-strong earthenware force commissioned to be buried alongside, and guard the tomb of, China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang.

Source: The Guardian February 19, 2018 09:59 UTC