Two theft suspects were caught 13 days after they allegedly stole antiques worth 300,000 yuan (US$36,300) from a watchtower in Kaiping City recently, the Guangzhou-based Information Times reported Monday.

Caught at the same time was a man who allegedly helped dispose of the stolen items. The stolen antiques were recovered and returned to their owner.

Surnamed Zhao and Hu, the two suspects are in 30s from Henan Province. They contacted Peng, a migrant in Guangzhou who promised to resell the antiques for them before breaking into the Mingshi Watchtower on May 23. They allegedly sawed through the bars of a window and stole three antique porcelain vases, a record player, a pottery statuette, photos and glass paintings. They then hired a farm vehicle to take the stolen goods to Guangzhou to sell. Peng paid a total of 16,000 yuan for the stolen objects and resold them to two antique shops in Guangzhou.

Police arrested the two men in a rented apartment in Kaiping on June 3 with a batch of house-breaking tools including a saw, string, a spanner, a jimmy and cloth flatties. Peng was caught two days later when he came to discuss selling the items.

The three allegedly acknowledged their crime.

The owner Fang Runzhi, an overseas Chinese from the United States, built the watchtower in 1925. The watchtowers of Kaiping are listed as a State protected cultural relic, and local officials are applying for a UNESCO world cultural relic listing for the buildings.

Editor: James