It started with a selfie and resulted in one of China's iconic Terracotta Warriors losing a thumb. The incident in the US has sparked a wave of anger across social media in China. Shaanxi Province's cultural relics authority says it will send experts to Philadelphia to repair the statue, which was on loan at a museum there. But China is also demanding answers as to how the theft could occur. Toby Muse reports.

A thumb stolen from an ancient Terracotta Army statue worth millions. It could be a Sherlock Holmes mystery. But authorities say they've already got their man. The FBI say the crime took place in December at the Franklin museum in Philadelphia where the statue was one of ten on loan from China. During a museum party on December 21st, 24-year old Michael Rohana is accused of snapping a selfie with the statue and then snapping the thumb off the statue worth 4.5 million dollars.

Museum staff didn't notice the damage until January 8th when they called the police. The FBI traced the thumb back to Rohana five days later. Authorities have charged Rohana with theft of an artwork from a museum, concealment of the artwork and interstate transportation of stolen property. He is out on bail, awaiting trial.

The Terracotta Army is more than 2,000 years-old-discovered by farmers in Xi'an in 1974. Archeologists say there are more than 8,000 such figures, but many remain buried in their dirt. They've been called - unofficially - the Eighth Wonder of the World.

Questions are now being asked about how Rohana got so close to the statute unsupervised-something that would be impossible in China where they're on display in large pits-out of reach from tourists.

When the exhibition opened last Autumn, the museum promised a unique experience, letting visitors get closer to the statues that even in China where they are now shown.

MICKEY MALEY ASST. DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROGRAMS, FRANKLIN INSTITUTE "This is the closest that I can even think of anyone being to the Terracotta warriors in recent memory where you are only a few feet away."

Victor Gao escorted President Richard Nixon to visit the Terracotta Army during one of his visits to China.

VICTOR GAO CURRENT AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR "It's a pity and shows the negligence on the part of the museum management." "Legal proceedings I hope will soon start and hopefully the person involved will receive due punishment and will be a deterrence."

The Shaanxi Province center that loaned the statues "strongly condemned" the vandalism and called on U.S. authorities to severely punish the perpetrator. The center will send two experts to repair the damaged statue. The Franklin Institute didn't return CGTN's request for comment. Toby Muse, CGTN, Washington.