Easter Island statue in London

There are some 4000 items of cultural property taken from Easter Island inthe past and now wscattered in foreign collections across the world. One of them in London is attracting some attention (AFP, 'Chilean filmmakers demand British repatriation of Easter Island statue' August 12, 2016).

Chilean filmmakers have launched a campaign for Britain to return a giant statue they say was stolen from the mystical Easter Island. Hoa Haka Nana'ia - meaning "hidden or stolen friend" in the island's native language - is one of the star exhibits in London's British Museum, seen by tourists from around the world. But campaigners say it belongs along with other sacred sculptures on the remote Chilean island in the Pacific, from where it was taken a century ago. The London moai, as the famous Easter Island Statues are known locally, stands 2.5 meters high and weighs about four tonnes. It is thought to have been sculpted around the 13th century. Like other moai, it was believed to be inhabited by a "mana," or spirit, that protected local tribes. A new documentary about the statues says that "one way to recover the mana to restore wellbeing to the island is to bring the spirit of the Moai Hoa Kaka Nana'ia back to its native land." 

There is a petition in progress urging the Chilean government to make a formal demand for the moai's return.