Stolen: Sun god, about 2cm tall

The Surya Dev bead, a 2,000-year-old depiction of a sun god has been stolen from an exhibition at the National Discovery Museum Institute in Bangkok.

Ancient sun god bead stolen
Bangkok Post, 7 March 2009

An ancient bead featuring an image of the Hindu sun god Surya Dev has been stolen from the National Discovery Museum Institute, according to police.

The Surya Dev bead, with a diameter of less than 2cm, had been kept inside a glass box with a magnifying glass on top allowing visitors a close look at the more than 2,000-year-old antiquity.

However, a thief removed the glass, leaving a hole through which he removed the bead, according to investigators.

The museum only wanted visitors to study the bead at close range, although that idea “goes against security practices of museums worldwide”, admitted Ronarit Tanakoset, head of the exhibition.