How can this happen?

This 11th-century statue in the Baphuon style fetched $2.11 million at Christie's (Photo: Sotheby's)

News just through that the beautiful sculpture of a female deity above in the Baphuon style recently fetched the highest price at auction for any Khmer sculpture, reaching an amazing $2.11 million in a sale at Christie's in New York. Souren Melikian reports for the International Herald Tribune that the Indian & South-East Asian Art sales on March 19 at Sotheby's and March 21 at Christie's took prices to new heights. Just how artifacts of obvious Khmer identity can be sold without their provenance being accurately established is beyond me. I don't know the intricacies of the fine arts world, but these sculptures have almost certainly been misappropriated from Cambodia, yet Cambodia cannot demand their return unless they prove ownership. For goodness sake, these items came from Cambodia, everyone knows it, but the art world effectively turns a blind eye.
Some of the sales included the following:
A sandstone figure of a woman carved in the 11th century in the style known as Banteay Srei and described as having been acquired in 1986 was missing its head, very neatly chopped off, and both feet. It's commercial performance was not affected and it raised $361,000, nearly six times the estimate. Next, a 12th-century bronze bodhisattva from the Angkor period. No provenance at all here, no date of acquisition. The 34 centimeter four-armed statue did not sell so well, and only went under the hammer for $73,000. It was followed by a 13th-century bronze figure of Ganesha seated on a pedestal cast in the Bayon style, which exceeded its high estimate by half, climbing to $52,000. For this item the catalogue noted "Provenance. Hong Kong Collection, 1980s," implying little more than it had been in Hong Kong at some stage. This complete disregard for its Cambodian origin is blatant and grossly shameful. Two days later, at Christie's, things got a lot hotter. A Khmer statue of the 11th century in the Baphuon style had surfaced in the market in 1968, two years before the UNESCO cut-off line of 1970, after which goods of uncertain provenance are deemed less legitimate. At $2.11 million, it now holds the world record for Khmer sculpture.