CHENNAI: A Ganesha idol at the Toledo Museum of Art that was likely stolen from the Sivan temple in Ariyalur in central Tamil Nadu may well find its way back soon. 

The US museum that bought the idol from alleged art thief Subhash Kapoor, who was extradited to India and is currently being tried, is ready to return the statue if there's reasonable evidence to prove its origin. 

Kelly Fritz Garrow, the director of communications at the museum located in Ohio, told TOI, "If we are not the legal owners of the idol we will return it. We don't want stolen objects." Responding to a TOI report in Monday's edition, Fritz Garrow said US Justice Department officials were in touch with the museum even if Indian officials were not in direct contact. 

She said, "it would be great if the museum was presented with scientific evidence" but if that is not available then the museum will make a determination based on the evidence available. 

In Kapoor's case, TN police have largely relied on photographic and circumstantial evidence to show that he acquired the idols using a gang of thieves and sold them to museums across the world after fabricating false provenance certificates. 

Kapoor was handed over to India by German authorities based on an Interpol red corner notice. A US national who ran a gallery named 'Art of the Past' in New York, Kapoor had built up extensive connections in the antiquities market. His clientele included museums and collectors across the world. 

Fritz Garrow said in the case of the Kapoor acquisitions, including the nearly 1,000-year-old Ganesha, there was a lot more circumstantial evidence than in many other claims of stolen works of art. "We want to do the right thing. If there's evidence that would make a person believe that the idol is stolen, then we would start the process of returning it," she said. "It appeared that there is evidence against Kapoor and his parties."