Two of 12 bronze animal head sculptures donated by Jackie Chan to the new branch of the Taipei Palace Museum were sprayed with red paint by two unidentified persons on Wednesday, the museum confirmed.

The museum has filed a report to the police and will pursue legal action with the persons involved in the act, the museum said in a press release to Xinhua.

The animal head sculptures are replica of the sculptures that formed the zodiac water clock at Yuanmingyuan in Beijing, the Old Summer Palace built by Emperor Qianlong (1736-1795). The originals were looted from the royal garden by Anglo-French Allied forces during the Second Opium War in 1860. Seven were retrieved but five remain missing.

The replica sculptures have been placed in the garden of the Taipei Palace Museum's branch in Chiayi of south Taiwan, which started operation on Monday.

The suspects sprayed red paint on the horse head and dragon head and painted "cultural united front" in Chinese characters, a term referring to the mainland's campaign for reuniting the island, the museum said in the press release.

The museum denied political reference of the donations, adding that the sculptures were included in the new museum building after careful consideration as they represent the universal value of honoring cultural relics and protecting cultural heritage.

Taipei's Palace Museum was built in 1965 based on about 600,000 pieces shipped from the mainland when the Kuomintang (KMT) fled to Taiwan in 1949 after its defeat in a civil war.

According to the police, the suspects were a man and a female. They were taken to the police station for further questioning.

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