Give us our plundered statue back

AN ANCIENT statue taken from Easter Island 150 years ago and given to Queen Victoria has become the latest subject of a row about whether or not treasures held in the British Museum should be returned.

The 8ft-tall “Hoa Hakananai’a” sculpture was removed by Richard Powell, captain of HMS Topaze, in 1868.

Now officials on the island, a Unesco World Heritage Site in the South Pacific 2,000 miles from the coast of Chile, want it back to complete the lines of statues for which it is famous.

Easter Island’s native Rapa Nui community believe that the Moai statues emit a spiritual force that protects them.

Local leaders say that retrieving the taken statue would be “an important symbol in closing the sad chapter” of European navigators they allege violated their rights.

History

There are 900 giant statues on the island, most of which were carved from volcanic ash between the sixth and 17th centuries.

But the Hoa Hakananai’a, which means “the stolen or hidden friend” in the island’s indigenous language, is unique because of its basalt composition.

The British Museum says there is “a great public benefit” in keeping it in the UK.

A spokeswoman said: “The Moai sculpture is on permanent display to the six million people who walk through our doors every year.

“We also believe it is important to represent the history of Easter Island’s indigenous community in the British Museum.”

Other British Museum items subject to fierce debate include the Rosetta Stone, key to ancient hieroglyphics from Egypt, the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon in Greece and Benin Bronzes from Nigeria.

Another Moai statue is in a museum in Paris.

The statue in the British Museum and, right, a typical array of the carvings on Easter Island. Locals say the example in Britain should be returned to them because it emits a spiritual force that protects them