Moment thief busted into LA art gallery to steal 250-pound ancient Japanese Buddha sculpture worth $1.5MILLION

A thief slipped into an upscale art gallery in Los Angeles to steal an ancient statue worth $1.5 million. The daring heist was captured on a security camera.

The bronze statue depicting a cross-legged Buddha was stolen from the Barakat Gallery in Beverly Grove around 3:45 a.m. on September 18.

The 250-pound artifact dates from Japan’s Edo period, from 1603 to 1867, and is believed to have been commissioned for the centerpiece of a temple.

Footage captured the moment a Budget moving van approached the driveway gate. The hooded driver got out, opened the gate and hurried past the cameras on his way to the gallery. Using a dolly, he moved the statue into a truck.

According to gallery owner Fayez Barakat, the entire process took about 25 minutes.

“I appreciate it so much,” he said said of the statue. “I had it in the backyard of my house and when I moved to this gallery I put it in the backyard of the gallery for everyone to admire and enjoy.”

Security footage captured the moment a thief broke down the driveway gate and entered the gallery, only to return within 30 minutes and drag the statue onto a dolly

The gallery is located in Beverly Grove, a busy shopping and dining destination in Los Angeles

Barakat Gallery offers the largest collection of ancient art in the world for sale, with other locations in London, Seoul, Abu Dhabi and Hong Kong.

The West Hollywood location opened in January 2017 and features a 7,000-square-foot showroom spread over two floors. The gallery sells a large number of artefacts ranging from sculptures to jewellery, plus a library with a selection of texts related to history, art and anthropology.

But the stolen statue was valuable, as Barakat said he acquired it more than 55 years ago and that no other artifact exists in the world.

Gallery director Paul Henderson described it as the “prize piece” of the nearly 200 pieces in the collection.

“It’s four feet tall, it’s hollow cast bronze and it’s a beautiful piece,” he told KTLA 5. “It’s really aesthetically pleasing and it’s shocking to see something like this go to waste.”

The theft is the first Henderson has experienced after working at the gallery for more than a decade.

He suspected that it would be virtually impossible to sell the ancient artifact without getting caught.

‘You can’t go to the market. “You can’t take it to a pawn shop and sell it for a few thousand dollars, that’s just not possible,” he said.

‘It looks like some kind of museum robbery: what are you going to do with this object? We’re all very curious and amazed, to be honest.’

Gallery owner Fayez Barakat says he is “heartbroken” because the piece is unique

The gallery specializes in ancient art objects and has approximately 200 items in its collection

The statue is worth $1.5 million and was acquired 55 years ago. Gallery director Paul Henderson describes it as the ‘prize piece’

Barakat Gallery is a family tradition that started more than a century ago. The Barakats were artifact traders in the Middle East who expanded their activities worldwide

Considering all possible outcomes, Barakat expressed fears that the thief could melt down the ancient statue for bronze.

“I’m devastated,” the gallery owner said.

“Whoever stole it, maybe that person understood its value. They probably ordered someone, some thief, to just steal it.”

Barakat is a fifth-generation art dealer with a family legacy which goes back 125 years.

The Barakat family historically sold artifacts in the Middle East. To accommodate a growing collection, they opened their first gallery in Jerusalem in the 1950s and have since expanded to other cities around the world.

Every item in Barakat is legally excavated and registered, and advertised as ‘museum quality’.

The owner hopes that the thief will be found quickly and is offering a reward to anyone who returns the statue. No arrests have been made.

The Edo period is one of the richest in Japanese art. One of the most recognizable pieces from this era is The Great Wave off Kanagawa, a woodblock print by the famous artist Katsushika Hokusai.

It shows a rising wave with three boats sailing through the rough waters. A print of the work, originally titled Under the Wave off Kanagawa, sold sold at auction last year for almost $3 million.

Christie’s, the auction house that sold the piece, is offering a complete set of another 46 prints by the same artist for sale next March.

The auction house expects the prints, which date from the 19th century, to fetch ‘in the millions’.