CHENGDE, China, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- China has imposed the death penalty on a government curator charged with stealing 259 antiques, the Xinhua state news agency reported Wednesday.
Li Haitao was convicted of stealing the relics during a span of 10 years, the largest theft of antiquities since the start of communist rule in 1949.
Li worked as the security chief for Chengde's Cultural Relics Protection Department, where police said he initially replaced stolen items with fakes, but later simply took the relics home.
Li took the antiquities from the Chengde Mountain Resort in central Hebei Province, which is listed as a World Heritage site. He reportedly was paid $460,000 for the items, of which only 109 have been recovered, Xinhua said.
Four other people were given prison sentences and fines for their involvement in the thefts, which involved some of China's most important relics.
