Stolen Mao Calligraphy Worth $300 Million Torn in Two: Report
Police show a picture of a calligraphy scroll written by Mao Zedong which was torn in half, in Hong Kong on Oct. 7.
Photographer: Isaac Lawrence/AFP via Getty Images
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A calligraphy scroll by late Chinese leader Mao Zedong worth HK$2.3 billion ($297 million) has been torn in half after being resold to a buyer who thought it was counterfeit, the South China Morning Post reported.
The man cut the piece in half for storage purposes, believing it to be a fake after buying it for a mere HK$500, the Hong Kong newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing a police source. The purchaser surrendered himself and the damaged scroll to the police Sept. 22 following a public appeal by authorities, the paper said.