According to Mr. Duong Dinh Luc, residing in Van Tuong commune, Quang Ngai province, in March 2021, when he went out to sea to fish, he discovered a stone monkey statue submerged in sand. The location where the stone statue was discovered was about 50m from the shore, at a depth of 4m. The monkey statue was very heavy, Mr. Luc had to mobilize relatives to rent a crane to salvage and bring it home.
"Seeing the strange statue, many curious people came to see it. This information reached ancient traders. A while later, many people came to ask to buy the statue. Some people offered me 2 billion VND, but I did not sell it because I thought this statue had a spiritual element" - Mr. Luc said.
After that, the local authorities learned that Mr. Luc had recovered the antique, so they persuaded him to hand it over to the state. According to the Quang Ngai Provincial General Museum, the statue of Mr. Luc that was salvaged was a statue of Hanuman monkey dating from the 11th - 12th centuries. The statue is made of sandstone. The statue's body and base are 84cm high and weigh 150kg.
On August 20, 2025, the People's Committee of Quang Ngai province decided to approve the plan to handle assets that have established public ownership of the found assets that are antiques randomly found by individuals.
This decision of the People's Committee of Quang Ngai province is the official legal basis. On this basis, relevant units will implement the next steps to propose competent authorities to reward people who have handed over the antiques.
Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper reporter, Dr. Doan Ngoc Khoi - Deputy Director of the Quang Ngai Provincial General Museum - said that the Hanuman monkey statue handed over by Mr. Luc has not yet been on display. Mr. Luc shared with the press that when he got the statue, someone offered to buy it for 2 billion VND but he did not sell it. However, this information is difficult to verify for accuracy.
According to the decision approving the plan to handle the assets established for public ownership that has just been approved by the Provincial People's Committee, the Quang Ngai Provincial General Museum will hire an independent unit to conduct a value appraisal of the Hanuman monkey statue presented by Mr. Luc to evaluate the statue. This result will be the basis for applying Article 94 of Decree 77 on bonus payment to Mr. Luc.
Article 94 of Decree 77 stipulates the payment of bonuses to organizations and individuals who discover and hand over buried, hidden, buried, or sunken assets.
Accordingly, the bonus level is calculated using the partial accumulation method. Level 1, if the value of the property is up to 10 million VND, the organization or individual will randomly find and hand over the property with a bonus of 30%.
Level 2, value of assets over VND 10 million to VND 100 million, the bonus level is calculated as follows: the value of up to VND 10 million applies as level 1, the value of over VND 10 million applies at a ratio of 15%.
Level 3, asset value over 100 million VND to 1 billion VND, value up to 100 million VND applies as level 2, value over 100 million VND applies at a rate of 7%.
Level 4, the value of assets over VND 1 billion to VND 10 billion, the value of up to VND 1 billion applies as level 3, the value of over VND 1 billion applies at a ratio of 1%.
Level 5, the value of assets over VND10 billion, the value of up to VND10 billion applies as level 4, the value of over VND10 billion applies at a rate of 0.5%.
