The statues are part of a 300-piece collection owned by the museum, 200 are considered extremely valuable to the country.

The statues had earlier been restored with US$27,000 support from the US Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP).

The AFCP has financed other restorative projects in Vietnam, including preservation of the Cham ethnic group’s Kate Festival and the Tay ethnic group’s “Then” singing, conserving lacquer paintings at the Hanoi Fine Arts Museum, and restoring Hy Hoa Temple in the ancient town of Hoi An and Dau pagoda in the northern province of Bac Ninh.