Six ancient Chinese terracotta figures which were stolen from an ancient Chinese tomb in 2002 and smuggled to the United States were returned to Xi'an, the capital of northwestern China's Shaanxi Province on Thursday.
The figures were stolen in March 2002 from the tomb of a princess of the Western Han Dynasty (206BC-24AD). They were then smuggled to the United States and put on the auction block at Sothebys.
The terracotta figures will be exhibited at the Xi'an-based Yangling Museum once authorities complete the cultural relics registration process, said Xiang De, director of the Xi'an Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics.
"We want to extend our sincere thanks to the US law enforcement authorities that helped us recover the figures," Xiang said.
(Xinhua News Agency June 27, 2003)
