GEORGE TOWN, July 29 – No place is sacred when it comes to the lawbreakers. Today, someone reportedly stole a 200-year-old diamond from the Goddess of Mercy Temple in Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling around lunchtime.

Although a suspect was apprehended by devotees in the temple at that time, the diamond has yet to be found.

Star Online reported that the suspect is believed to have broken the glass pane housing the statue of the Kuan Yin deity with a hammer and took the diamond off the forehead of the deity’s statue.

The temple’s operations director, said devotees alerted by the sound of glass breaking, gave chase when they saw the suspect and beat him up until he was unconscious.

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The diamond is considered a priceless artifact as it had been in the temple since it was built more than two centuries ago.