Photo: EPA

A French museum has returned the head of a 7th Century Hindu statue to Cambodia 130 years after it was taken, the BBC reports.

The statue, a representation of the Hindu gods Vishnu and Shiva, had its head taken in French colonial times.

It was returned by the Guimet Museum in Paris at Cambodia’s request and reattached to the body on Thursday.

A Cambodian culture ministry spokesman said joining the head to the statue felt “like we are reconnecting the soul of our national heritage”.