October 19: The Department of Archeology is effortful to bring back idols, sculptures and artifacts that were stolen and illegally sold from Nepal over a period of time.    
Damodar Gautam, Director General of the Department, told the state-owned national news agency RSS said that efforts are being made in coordination with Nepal's embassies abroad, Interpol and foreign museums to garner information regarding such stolen and sold Nepali artifacts so as to retrieve them.    
According to RSS, the department is also coordinating with concerned authorities in the UK, the USA and France to reclaim such Nepali treasure trove that long have been in these countries.    
Gautam shared that identification of the country of origin of idols of Lord Ganesh and Thanka painting abroad becomes harder since both are also found in India and Tibet respectively.    
Many museums abroad and many cultural and historical collectors were found to have kept idols, artifacts and religious materials under 'Nepalese Collection'.     
The government of Nepal came forward to bring back such cultural properties that were illegally exported or smuggled abroad.    
The department, according to Gautam, faces human resource crunch which has also affected in bringing back such stolen heritages on time.    
He shared that there are currently 25 staffers at the department that is responsible for protecting and maintain archeological sites, ancient monuments including remains of national importance, museum and archive management.