Temperature changes damage Summer Palace statues

BEIJING - Fluctuating temperatures have damaged several Buddha statues in Beijing's Summer Palace, park authorities said Tuesday.

Photos of Buddha statues whose heads went missing went viral on the Internet over the weekend, sparking speculation that they may have been decapitated by vandals.

Buddha statues on the wall around the Wisdom Sea, a religious building in the Summer Palace, July 29, 2013. [Photo/Xinhua]

But the park's management said temperature changes caused the heads to expand and contract, eventually loosening them from the statues.

Park spokeswoman Li Kun dismissed vandalism as the cause, adding that the park regularly patrols the area around the statues.

The heads have been found, but are too damaged to re-attach to the statues, Li said, adding that new heads will be attached to the statues within the next three months.