Tokyo -
Four South Koreans have been arrested on suspicion of stealing a centuries-old Buddha statue in Japan, reports said on Tuesday.
The suspects allegedly stole the 11-centimetre-tall copper statue from a temple in Tsushima city in southern Japan, police said, according to The Japan Times daily.
The suspects were reportedly also in possession of Buddhist scriptures, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported.
One of the suspects, a 70-year-old man, said he was a monk in South Korea, Yonhap said.
In October 2012, two Buddha statues were stolen in Tsushima and smuggled into South Korea, Yonhap reported. - Sapa-dpa