The two pieces, Narang says, were her family’s priced possession for decades. “Both the pieces are registered with the Punjab state’s Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Archaeology and Museums, under the Antiquities and Art Treasures Rules, 1973. The heritage pieces were in the possession of my family for the last 42 years, which were owned by my father, my mother and later by me, before they were stolen on March 19 when I was in Chandigarh. The worse is that I could get a report registered only after seeking intervention of the Mohali superintendent of police.”

The two heritage pieces include a steel/iron-made painting measuring 3 feet by 3 feet of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and a statue of Hanuman in a single piece marble measuring approximately 3.5 feet high in which the Hindu lord is carrying an arrow and a bow.

In her complaint to the police, Narang stated after returning home on the morning of March 20, she found the front door open and the lock in a flowerpot nearby. The passage to the front door of the house was badly damaged and it appeared that a heavy vehicle had been driven on the passage to take away the heavy idol and painting, thus damaging the passage.

“If we cannot save or preserve our heritage or such antique pieces, what heritage festivals or heritage weeks we talk of? I was the custodian of such prestigious pieces of art that we worshipped at our residence and now they have been stolen. The police have not done anything to make any recoveries,” Narang told Newsline.