PHNOM PENH, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco in the United States has agreed to return 13 significant Khmer artifacts to Cambodia, said a press release from the Cambodian Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts on Thursday.
The full group of returned masterpieces included statues of deities, stone heads, a lion, and important carved architectural elements, the press release said.
It added that these objects were "removed unlawfully during periods of civil war and instability."
"Each of these returned masterpieces is a living fragment of Cambodian identity," Cambodian Minister of Culture and Fine Arts Phoeurng Sackona said.
"Their return represents not only the restoration of cultural memory, but the healing of wounds left by decades of conflict and heritage loss," she added.
On Wednesday, the country also announced that the U.S. Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Asian Art has approved the return of three looted Khmer masterpieces to Cambodia. ■
