Bangladesh has cancelled an exhibition of rare artifacts at a Paris museum after two statues of Vishnu were stolen en route to France.
The 1,500-year-old works — a statue of Vishnu and a bust of the Hindu god — went missing from Zia International Airport in Dhaka on Saturday, according to reports from Agence France Presse.
They were among more than 180 artifacts destined for a major international exhibition on Bangladesh's history and culture at the Guimet Museum in Paris.
On Tuesday, the Bangladeshi cabinet met and decided to cancel the exhibit because of the thefts, according to a government statement.
Meanwhile, police have arrested 15 people as part of a nation-wide investigation of the thefts.
The exhibit had been controversial among some conservative groups in Bangladesh who said precious artifacts should not be sent abroad.
Artifacts for the exhibit were selected from five state-run museums under an agreement between the French embassy and the government's cultural affairs ministry.
The statues were discovered missing Saturday as a shipment was being loaded onto an Air France flight.
The government ordered 140 other artifacts waiting for shipment to be returned to the Dhaka Museum.
Another 42 artifacts have reached Paris and Bangladesh has demanded that they be immediately returned.
The incident is turning into an ugly diplomatic row for France, with hardliners in Bangladesh calling for expulsion of French representatives over the theft.
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