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Chinese experts fly to US after thief steals terracotta warrior’s thumb

The terracotta warriors are a source of Chinese pride.

The terracotta warriors are a source of Chinese pride. Photo: AAP

China will send two experts to the United States to repair a terracotta warrior statue damaged by an amateur art thief, state media reports.

The statue was damaged when 24-year-old American Michael Rohana allegedly broke a thumb off the 2200-year-old statue as a souvenir while attending a party at the Franklin Institute in Pennsylvania, according to US media.

Rohana was charged with theft and concealment of a major artwork, and later released on bail.

The Shaanxi Cultural Heritage Promotion Centre, which loaned the statues, will send experts to reattach the missing digit, the Xinhua news agency reported.

A representative of the cultural centre told the Beijing Youth Daily that it “strongly condemned” the theft.

The statue was one of thousands of life-size terracotta warriors unearthed from the mausoleum to the first Qin emperor who unified China and died in 210 BCE, according to UNESCO.

The mausoleum in Xi’an is a World Heritage site although China regularly loans statues to overseas museums.

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