Visitors to anime and games conventions are no stranger to large, life-sized displays, but the headless Gundam statues at CCG Expo in Shanghai must have drawn their fair share of attention.

Images of the wooden statues from the popular Bandai franchise missing their heads were posted on Chinese social media and went viral on Monday (10 July), with many wondering where the heads went.

Unfortunately, in further proof that humanity doesn’t deserve nice things, the heads were found being hawked online on a China-based online auction site.

(Photo: AEMedia高达主题论坛 Weibo) More

The theft and subsequent sale has led to many enthusiasts in the Chinese GunPla community (those who enjoy assembling and painting Gundam model kits) condemning the act, with some even comparing it to the theft of a 1,500-year-old Buddha head in the ’90s.

That head was returned to China in 2016.

It remains to be seen if the staff will recover the heads of the RX-78-2 and the RX-0 Unicorn Gundam, which are from the series’ Universal Century timeline.

The RX-78-2 Gundam was the titular character of the first Mobile Suit Gundam anime series, which aired in 1979.

The franchise has gone on to spawn several different timelines and variations, including Gundam Wing, Gundam SEED, Gundam 00 and most recently Iron-Blood Orphans.

The Gundams are a type of mobile suit (armoured humanoid-shaped robots), piloted by humans, that range from 10m to 40m in height (depending on the model).

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