Five people have been sentenced to seven months in prison and given fines of between RMB 10,000 and RMB 30,000 for raiding a tomb dating back to the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), a Beijing court said Monday. Netizens followed the story using the hastag 'Five thieves caught robbing a Qing Dynasty temple‘ #5人盗窃北京清朝古墓获刑#.

A defendant surnamed Shi and four others were found guilty of excavating items such as silver bracelets and other accessories buried in a tomb at a deserted yard in Chaoyang District on the night of Jan 6, 2020, according to the People's Court of Chaoyang District.

Police caught the five offenders at the scene of the crime and promptly seized all the items. However, the damage done to the tomb, which is of significant historical value, is irreversible. 

Given that the cache had seemingly eluded professional archaeologists for all these years, one commenter satirized the situation by asking, “Why are tomb robbers always faster at discovering ancient tombs than experts?”