Statues of Buddha are now popular for the Japanese people to taste them by watching, which is, on the other hand, igniting thefts to steal these artifacts. And certainly, these Buddha-Statues are, through black markets, sold in the foreign countries and may be purchased by Asia-freaked-collectors.
Well, some rural areas in Japan have lost their symbolic value emobodied by the Buddha that vanished by stealing.
Ironically indeed, the Buddha Booming in Japan has caused Buddha-Exodus illegally. And to get thigns worse, only a few people, among the Japanese people, notice this heart-breaking situation.
Buddha statues can be perceived as Arts. However, when they have, through the ages, been worshipped by the people, they are sort of en-souled beings. In it, they are not things to be stolen or not.