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The 2.8 m long piece was cut because it was too long to be displayed, according to Hong Kong police. A stolen scroll of Chinese calligraphy, worth millions, was found in Hong Kong after being cut in half. Thieves stole the scroll of Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong an art collector's house in a robbery last month. They then sold it for a fraction of its original value. The 2.8m long parchment had been cut because it was considered too long to display, Hong Kong police said. The original owner says the value of the work was "definitely affected". Great theft The parchment, which contains stanzas of poetry handwritten by the founder of the People's Republic of China, is estimated at about $ 300 million (R $ 1.6 billion) by its owner. It was stolen in a major assault on September 10, when three men broke into the home of Fu Chunxiao, a well-known stamp collector and revolutionary art. The thieves also took old stamps, copper coins and other pieces of Mao's calligraphy. The theft totaled losses estimated at $ 645 million (R $ 3.6 billion) according to Fu, who was in mainland China when the theft occurred. The thieves sold one of the pieces to another art collector for just $ 64. The buyer, according to the "South China Morning Post", believed that the work of art was false. The buyer then saw a public appeal the police and handed himself over with the two pieces of parchment on September 22. It is not clear who sliced the art into two pieces. Senior superintendent Tony Ho of the Hong Kong police said, "Someone thought the handwriting was too long ... and difficult to show and display. That's why it was cut in half." "It was heartbreaking to see him split in two," Fu told the Post. "It will definitely affect its value, but the impact is yet to be seen." Police later arrested the 49-year-old buyer on suspicion of dealing with stolen property, although he has already been released on bail. A suspect in the theft was arrested, but the other two thieves who broke into Fu's home are still at large.
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