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In 1923 some important pieces were stolen from Banteay Srei. The thief, a Frenchman named André Malraux, was arrested and jailed in Phnom Penh but was released after he returned the pieces. This same thief was later appointed Minister of Culture by Charles de Gaulle. (Whoever said the French lack a sense of irony?)

This figure should be guarding the entrance to the tower in Banteay Srei but instead, he himself is being guarded at the National Museum of Cambodia in Phnom Penh. He has been replaced in situ by a copy, whom we can only hope is doing his diligent best. Looting is a continuing problem at some of the more distant Angkor sites.