Collector willing to return Buddha statue

A Dutch private collector who owns a 1,000-year-old Buddha statue with a mummified monk inside is willing to return it to a Chinese village if it is proved that the statue was stolen from there.

The collector, an Amsterdam architect, said if there is proof that the statue belongs to "for example a Buddhist community that still exists", he is willing to surrender it, as long as it does not go to a museum.

The collector said several pictures in the Chinese media resemble the statue he owns, but he has many doubts.