The statue grabbed global attention in February after a scan revealed it contained the mummified remains of a Buddhist monk.

It was featured in the Mummy World Exhibition at the Hungarian Natural History Museum in Budapest, which had planned to display it until May, and had previously been shown at the Drents Museum in Assen in the Netherlands.

The Budapest museum subsequently announced on its website that the relic had been removed and sent back to the Netherlands at the request of the Drents Museum. Van Overeem, a private collector, had lent the artifact to the Assen museum.

In March, after seeing pictures of the statue, residents of Yangchun pointed out its resemblance to the one that was stolen from the village.

Evidence that suggests the stolen statue and the one shown in Budapest are identical has been presented by the Fujian Administration of Cultural Heritage.
However, van Overeem said he has proof that the statue did not come from the village. He accused villagers were making up stories and said he can scientifically prove villagers were wrong.

But van Overeem admitted that the Buddha is from China and told China Daily over the phone that he would return the artifact to China

Before the statue was placed in a Netherlands museum for the exhibition, a full CT scan was performed and the ancient monk’s remains that were found inside provided a stunning moment for all parties involved.

The remains are thought to be of a man, Liuquan, who was known as a Buddhist master. He was a member of the Chinese Meditation School. In addition to the discovery of the monk itself, the researchers also made an additional discovery that was equal parts shocking and alarming.

All of the monk’s vital organs had been removed and scraps of paper that contained ancient Chinese characters were found in their place. It is even believed that Liuquan may have chosen to mummify his own body, as this was common practice during the time period.

There are old stories of Buddhist monks deciding to starve themselves to death and make themselves into mummies gladly. Liuquan is the first of his kind, however, and to date, this is the only statue of its type that has ever been found and scanned for further study.

Lawyers have finished investigation and evidence collection to reclaim a 1,000-year-old Buddha statue containing a mummified monk from a Dutch owner, a villager said.

“Lawyers left the village after collecting evidence and finishing field investigation,” Lin Yongtuan, a villager in Yangchun of Fujian province said.