A headstone with an English inscription thought to date back to the Second World War that recently went missing from a gravesite in Taipei has been retrieved and temporarily listed as a historical relic, the Taipei City government said Tuesday.
The headstone, discovered during a burial site relocation project in the city's Xinyi District, had been reported to police as missing by Taipei City Councilor Hsu Chia-pei (???).
Police then tracked down the headstone and returned it to the gravesite, where it was analyzed by experts from the city's Department of Cultural Affairs as scheduled on Monday.
The department's Cultural Heritage Division said that the headstone, which had been retrieved from an unidentified individual, was being stored at a local police station for safekeeping.
The city government explained that by temporarily listing the headstone as a historical relic, it would now be possible to pursue legal action if it was taken again.
Photo courtesy of Taipei City Councilor Hsu Chia-pei's office
The headstone was discovered in late March after the Taipei City government was to begin relocating 30 graves in the hills by Lane 137, Fude Street on Jan. 28, as part of a road expansion project.
After the city government ordered the graves in the area to be relocated by April 30, visitors discovered an inscription in English on one of the headstones thought to read either "Clack, Eric Arthur," or "Clack, Erec Arthur," who passed away on Aug. 25, 1945.
Pictures of the headstone were posted on Facebook of Taiwan Ancient Tomb Detectives,a group of local cemetery enthusiasts, on March 31, alongside another two stones that were too badly weathered to make out names or date of death.
Members of the group had speculated that the headstones may date back to the Second World War, with military historian Chang Wei-bin (???) saying on Sunday that they could mark the graves of British soldiers who had been captured and sent to Taiwan, which was then a Japanese colony, as prisoners of war.
Cultural heritage conservationist Hsiao Wen-chieh (???) however, said that as cement was a valuable material during WWII, it was unlikely it would have been used to make headstones for POWs, unless they were Allied servicemen who died at the end of the war.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel