A 1,500-year old Buddha head was returned to China on Friday after two decades overseas. Four thieves reportedly cut off the head of the white marble figure and sold it overseas in 1996.

According to China Daily, the 47-cm Buddha head was part of a statue in a pagoda at the Youju Temple in Hebei province. The statue was carved in white marble following the proclamation of Gao Rui, a royal family member from the Northern Qi Dynasty during 550-577 AD. The white marble statue represented the advanced level of craftsmanship during the era.

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The builders are believed to have deliberately made the gate of the tower smaller than the statue  to prevent it from being stolen. This strategy seemed to work until 1996 when four thieves cut off the head and sold it overseas.

While the thieves were caught soon afterwards, the head was nowhere to be found. However, in 2014, a Taiwanese businessman, who wishes to remain anonymous, reportedly donated a Buddha head to the founder of the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist in Taiwan. In turn, Abbot Hsing Yun asked aid from authorities in mainland cultural heritage to find the body of the head found.

Learning this, one archaeologist who was part of the team that guarded the statue decided to make a trip to Taiwan to check it out. When Liu Jianhua saw the head, she knew that it was the severed head of the legendary Buddha statue.

Master Hsing Yun then decided to make the Buddha statue whole once again. So together with a group of pilgrims, they escorted the Buddha head across the Taiwan Straits back to the mainland. In May 2015, the lost head was reunited with the body of the Buddha once more. The Buddha statue had been on exhibition in Fo Guang Shan since then. On March 1, it will be exhibited at the National Museum of China before being moved to Hebei.

TagsQi Dynasty, Abbot Hsing Yun, Fo Guang Shan Buddhist, Taiwan, china, Liu Jianhua, Art Exhibit, National Museum of China, buddha statue