A calligraphy scroll by former Chinese leader Mao Zedong (毛澤東) estimated to be worth millions of US dollars was cut in half after it was stolen last month in a high-profile burglary in Hong Kong, police said.
The scroll was found damaged when police late last month arrested a 49-year-old man on suspicion of handling stolen property.
The South China Morning Post, quoting an unidentified police source, reported that the scroll was cut in two by a buyer who had purchased it for HK$500 (US$65) and had believed the scroll to be counterfeit.
“According to our investigation, someone thought that the calligraphy was too long,” Tony Ho (何振東), a senior superintendent at the Hong Kong Organized Crime and Triad Bureau, said at a news conference on Tuesday. “It was difficult to show it, to display it, and that’s why it was cut in half.”
Police said the scroll was part of a multimillion-dollar theft by three burglars from collector Fu Chunxiao’s (符春曉) apartment last month.
Fu, who is well known for his collection of stamps and revolutionary art, was in mainland China at the time of the burglary and has not been in Hong Kong since January because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The burglars took 24,000 Chinese postage stamps, 10 coins and seven calligraphy scrolls from Fu’s apartment, where he stored his collections.
Fu estimated that the Mao calligraphy was worth about US$300 million and that the theft totaled about US$645 million.
No independent appraisals of the collections were available.
Police have arrested three men in relation to the burglary and on suspicion of providing assistance to criminals.
At least two people connected to the burglary are still at large, Ho said.
Although some of the stolen items have been found, the 24,000 stamps and six other calligraphy scrolls have not been recovered, police said.
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