Five Tang Dynasty (AD 618 - 907) murals that were illegally sold overseas six years ago have finally been returned to their former home in Xi'an, the capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province, the local newpaper Chinese Business View reported.

5 Tang Dynasty murals complete long journey home

The precious murals that are 1.2 meters long and between 80 and 90 cm wide, were officially transferred to Shaanxi history museum from Xi'an police on Wednesday.

At the ceremony held in the museum on Wednesday afternoon to welcome their return, Cheng Jianzheng, curator of the museum, said"The five murals are well preserved with complete composition and vivid colors."

It was the second success made by Xi'an police in getting back precious cultural relics, following the return of a Tang Dynasty stone coffin that was also illegally sold overseas.

According to Han Qing-long, head of the heritage inspection team under the Xi'an public security bureau, a criminal gang that raided a Tang Dynasty imperial tomb in a southern suburb of Xi'an was broken up in February 2006.

"We caught Yang Bin, the leader of the robbery gang, in July 2006 and got information that the coffin and murals had been sold overseas. After that, we started the long search for the rare treasures," Han said.

After four years of hard work and negotiations, Han and his colleagues successfully persuaded a relics collector in the United States to return the 27-ton stone coffin without any conditions.

The coffin was transferred by the police to Shaanxi history museum on June 17, 2010.