Pre-Angkorian statue found, then lost

A rare pre-Angkorian statue is found, then lost, by a farmer in Pursat province in Cambodia.

‘Cursed’ statue, ‘invaluable artefact’
Phnom Penh Post, 08 August 2014

When Prum Ky, 43, reported his missing statue to local police on Wednesday, he had little inkling that the dirty antiquity unearthed from his rice paddy could be an invaluable cultural treasure from the pre-Angkorian period.

Ky had discovered the headless, but otherwise well-intact statue on July 12 in Pursat town’s Kandieng district and lugged the artefact from his field to his house, hoping it would bring him luck and maybe even help him win the lottery.

“Three days later, he dreamed that his house was on fire. He told his neighbour . . . and the village elders told him that he should bring the statue back to the farm because, since the statue was without a head, it cursed his house,” said Soeng Sopheak, chief of the provincial penal police office.

The farmer hauled the statue back where he found it, and hid it underneath a tree. Two days later, it was gone.

Full story here.