Police have arrested a 38-year-old man who stole a metal statue of the mythical Kotchasri, apprehending him at his house in Lat Phrao district yesterday.
Pol Maj Gen Wasant Techa-akarakasem, investigative commander of Provincial Police Region 1, said the suspect, Thongchai Saengtrakarn, stole the statue from its plinth in front of the Defence Technology Institute in Pak Kret district, Nonthaburi on the night of July 28.
The man admitted to stealing the sculpture and said he used it as part of a ritual at his home, according to police.
After that, the man rode his motorbike while carrying the sculpture and left it next to a potted plant at a noodle shop in Lat Phrao Soi 122.
There the police found the sculpture, which was covered in candle drippings.
Pol Maj Gen Wasant said the man had a record for possession of ya ba (methamphetamine) four times from 2015 to 2517. He was detained at Pak Kret police station.
The Kotchasri sculpture has a lion's body with an elephant's tusked head and raised trunk. It is a symbol of the Defence Ministry.