Along a side street in the Nepalese town of Bhaktapur sits an unassuming building with a strange name: the Museum of Stolen Art.

Inside are rooms filled with statues of Nepal’s sacred gods and goddesses.

Among them is the Saraswati sculpture. Sitting atop a lotus, the Hindu goddess of wisdom holds in her four hands a book, a rosary and a classical instrument called a veena.

But like all the other sculptures in the room, the statue is a fake.

The Saraswati is one of 45 replicas on display in the museum, whose official site is still under construction in Panauti and is expected to open to the public in 2026.

It’s the brainchild of Nepalese conservationist Rabindra Puri, who is leading a mission to secure the return of dozens of stolen artifacts from Nepal, many of which are scattered across museums, auction houses or private collections in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom and France.

Over the past five years, he has hired half a dozen artisans to create replicas of these statues, each taking between three months and a year. The museum received no government funding.

His mission is to obtain the return of these stolen objects, in exchange for the replicas he has created.

In Nepal, such statues are found in temples across the country and are considered part of the country’s “living culture”, rather than just showpieces, says Sanjay Adhikari, secretary of the Nepal Heritage Recovery Campaign .

Many are worshiped daily by locals, with some worshipers offering food and flowers to the gods.

“An old lady told me that she worshiped Saraswati daily,” says Mr. Puri. “When she found out the idol had been stolen, she felt more depressed than when her husband died.”

It is also common for cultists to touch these statues to gain blessings – meaning they are rarely guarded – leaving them wide open to thieves.