Nearly 100 artefacts, dating back to more than a thousand years, were stolen from the Khon Kaen National Museum between December 4 and 5, Fine Arts Department chief Kriengkrai Sampatchalit said yesterday.
The stolen items include 55 Buddha amulets and two sheets of gold from Maha Sarakham's Nadoon Pagoda, 12 amulets from Muangfa Daedsongyang ancient city in Kalasin, 11 bronze Buddha statues from the Tharavadi era as well as seven bronze Buddha and five Bodhisatava statues from the Lop Buri era.
The museum has already filed a complaint with the police, who suspect that the thieves might have entered the museum as visitors and carried out the theft after the venue closed for the night.
Kriengkrai said the department would summon all museum personnel to help come up with measures such as installing security cameras to prevent a reoccurrence of such theft.
He also urged the public to provide information about suspicious artefacts or persons related to this case.
Chiefs of national museums nationwide would also be called for a brainstorming session to come up with measures to protect priceless artefacts, he added.
The Buddha amulets from Maha Sarakham's Nadoon Pagoda, unearthed in 1979, are said to have been made by royal craftsmen about 1,300 years ago.