Washington. The United States has returned two 8th-century bronze Buddha statues that were looted from archaeological sites in Indonesia decades ago, the US Embassy in Jakarta announced on Friday.

The artifacts were formally handed over during a repatriation ceremony at the Indonesian Consulate General in New York after a joint effort by the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and US Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

"We will continue working with Homeland Security Investigations to stop those who seek to profit from stolen historical artworks," US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton said in a statement released by the embassy.

Clayton thanked the private collector who voluntarily returned the artifacts, saying it was a privilege to help restore them to their country of origin.

"Our office remains fully committed to combating the illicit trafficking of stolen and looted art and antiquities," he said.

The repatriated objects are two standing bronze statues of Avalokiteshvara, the Buddhist bodhisattva of compassion, dating to the 8th century. The statues measure approximately 16 inches (40.6 centimeters) and 20 inches (50.8 centimeters) in height.

According to US authorities, the statues were illegally removed from archaeological sites in Indonesia by looters several decades ago before being sold to the late British antiquities dealer Douglas Latchford, who was based in Bangkok.

Latchford later sold the Indonesian artifacts, along with other Southeast Asian antiquities, to an American collector between 2003 and 2007 while concealing their illicit origins.

In late 2021, the collector voluntarily surrendered 34 antiquities from Cambodia and other Southeast Asian countries that had been acquired from Latchford. Two of those objects were the Indonesian bronze statues.

The statues were subject to a civil forfeiture case filed in New York, United States v. A Late 12th Century Bayon-Style Sandstone Sculpture Depicting Eight-Armed Avalokiteshvara, et al., in which they were identified as "Sculpture-12" and "Sculpture-27."

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