The theft of Cambodia’s cultural treasures…thousands of sacred stone, bronze and gold artifacts from religious sites across the country… might just be the greatest art heist in history.
WATCH: Cambodia tracking down thousands of priceless looted antiquities | 60 Minutes
It began nearly a century ago when Cambodia was colonized by France… but in the 1970s, 80s and 90s amidst genocide, civil war, and political turmoil – the looting became a global business, much of it run by a British man named Douglas Latchford. He kept some of it for himself, but much of what his gang of thieves stole, Latchford then sold to wealthy private collectors and some of the most important museums around the world. As we first reported in December… Cambodia’s government has spent the last 10 years trying to track it all down… and bring their history and heritage home.
