Two ancient sandstone artifacts said to have been stolen from Thailand during the Vietnam War have gone on exhibit at a Bangkok museum - greeted by traditional dancers and an elaborate ceremony.
They had been on exhibit at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum for decades and their repatriation to Thailand was the result of a yearslong investigation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The artifacts, which were returned late last week, feature magnificent carvings of the Hindu deities Indra and Yama dating from the late 10th or early 11th century.
"Today is the day that they are finally returned to their home country and displayed here," Thailand culture minister Itthiphol Kunplome said at the ceremony.
The sandstone lintels were previously part of the structure of two religious sanctuaries in Thailand's northeastern region. The authorities will determine whether or not they can be returned to their original locations.
Thailand notified the U.S. in 2017 that the lintels had been stolen.
"These two lintels are evidence of our rich and prosperous history dating back many centuries ago," Kunplome said, thanking U.S. authorities and the Thailand Foreign Affairs Ministry for the "relentless pursuit of the sandstones."
Kunplome further stated that the government is currently deciding whether they will be taken to smaller, local museums in the neighboring Cambodian provinces of Buriram and Sa Kaeo.
He said that there are still "13 more Buddha statues and engraved artifacts waiting to be repatriated from the U.S."
The California museum had contested investigators' claims that the artifacts were stolen, claiming that it had long planned to return them.
Museums in the U.S. are not the only ones that have been embroiled in art provenance issues in recent years.
Since 2014, Australia has returned at least eight plundered statues to India.
France has promised to return objects seized from Senegal and Benin, while the Netherlands is working to return artifacts stolen from former colonies.
