China outraged over terracotta travesty
Chinese urge ‘severe’ penalty for U.S. man suspected of damaging ‘national treasure’
HONG KONG— The warrior was a symbol of martial strength, moulded from terracotta and buried more than 2,000 years ago with China’s first emperor to defend him in the afterlife.
The statue was helpless, however, against a man in a green sweater and a Phillies hat who, authorities say, sneaked into a closed-off area during a party at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia in December and stole its thumb.
The man, who was attending the museum’s after-hours ugly-sweater party on Dec. 21, entered the terracotta warrior exhibition room and used his cellphone’s flashlight to view the displays. Then, according to an affidavit by Jacob Archer, an FBI special agent, the man put his arm around the statue and took a selfie.
Authorities said the man, later identified as Michael Rohana, then went for a more permanent memento. He grabbed the left hand of the statue, which is valued at $4.5 million (U.S.), and broke off its thumb. Taking the piece with him, he left with friends for his home in Delaware.
Rohana, 24, was charged last week in Philadelphia with theft of an artwork from a museum, concealment of the artwork and interstate transportation of stolen property. He was released on bail.
An attorney for Rohana could not immediately be reached for comment.
Archer said he had visited Rohana at his home in Bear, Del. When asked if he had anything he wanted to hand over, Rohana said he had a finger, which the FBI agent retrieved from a desk in the man’s bedroom.
News of the theft provoked anger in China, where the terracotta warriors are national treasures and a major tourist attraction. An official from the Shaanxi Cultural Heritage Promotion Center, which organizes the display of the statues abroad, asked that the thief be given a “severe” penalty.
“We call on the American side to severely punish the person who committed this destruction and theft of mankind’s cultural heritage,” the unidentified official told the Beijing Youth Daily, a Communist Party affiliated newspaper, on Sunday.
“The terracotta warriors are national treasures of our country,” the official was quoted as saying. “Their historical and artistic value are impossible to value . . . we express strong resentment and condemnation towards this theft and the destruction of our heritage.”
The official said the centre had offered to send two experts to the United States to repair the statue.
The statue of a cavalryman was one of 10 on display from Sept. 30 to March 4 at the Franklin Institute, along with other ancient artifacts. The Franklin Institute told the Courier-Post newspaper that a security contractor had not followed “standard closing procedures” the night of the party.
“As a result of this incident, we have thoroughly reviewed our security protocol and procedures, and have taken appropriate action where needed,” the museum said.