A man believed to be have mental issues broke into a temple in Melaka and stole multiple deity statues before throwing them into the sea on June 12.
Thankfully, four of the statues were successfully recovered after three intensive days of searching.
12 religious statues stolen
According to Li Yunjie, deputy head of the temple’s youth group, he told China Press that the temple directors were preparing to close for the day at around 7pm when they realised the statues were missing.
Upon reviewing CCTV footage, they discovered that a middle-aged man had entered the premises at around 3pm and packed the statues into three boxes before driving off.
The stolen items included statues of Nezha, the Monkey King, and Tua Pek Kong — figures of significant religious and cultural importance.
The man was later arrested with help from the police. He then admitted that he had thrown all 12 statues into the sea.
4 statues recovered
With the help of volunteers and fishing boat operators, the temple managed to recover a 30cm-tall statue of Tua Pek Kong, which is frequently used to represent the temple in attending Tua Pek Kong Association activities, after three hours of searching.
A Tua Pek Kong and two Nezha statues were later found after three days. Unfortunately, one of the Nezha statue could not be restored as one of its limb was broken.
The missing statues, some of which were crafted in China and Taiwan, were valued between RM20,000 and RM30,000.
Li said the temple plans to repurchase replacements for the Nezha and Monkey King statues.
No plans to take legal action
Despite the financial and cultural loss, the temple’s board of directors decided not to pursue legal action against the thief but warned him that he would face legal consequences if something similar occurred again.
This was not the first time the thief had taken items from the temple as he had previously removed a Guan Yin statue six months earlier.
He was eventually caught and given a stern warning by the board of directors.
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