HONOLULU (KHON2) -- Antiquities make up a part of the 10% of art that, the insurance industry said, is never recovered. Get Hawaii's latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You The largest religious structure in the world, Angkor Wat, was meant to honor its builder, Khmer King Suryavarman. Within its 406 acres are wonders of Khmer architecture and sculpture. Like the battles depicted on their walls, the temples maintain their own heroic resistance against the ever-encroaching jungle but after centuries both have acquiesced since neither is able to stand without the other. Cambodia hopes a new canal will boost trade. But it risks harming the Mekong that feeds millions. Other foes have chipped away at Angkor Watʻs magnificence--thieves. "Cambodia went through conflicts and during that time of political instability, there was a lot of looting when westerners were able to contract with local people to move antiquities out of archeological sites. We estimated there are a thousand objects at least," said UH Manoaʻs Center for Southeast Asian Studiesʻ Miriam Stark, Ph.D. They are priceless antiquities to collectors but the heart of the culture for Cambodians. "Itʻs a house without soul. You walk into the temple but you see the statue losing a part of their body, a rock, not a complete treasure," Seven Nhim, a UH politicial science Ph.D student said. "Our people honor and respect them like our ancestors did and made them for," UH student Virginia Prak said. For the first time in 8 years, a US Navy ship makes a port call in Cambodia, a top Chinese ally Dr. Stark was named to head the East-West Centerʻs Cambodia project which has been working with the State Department, the Manhattan District Attorneyʻs Office and the Cambodian Ministry of Fine Arts to repatriate as many antiquities as they can find. Five months ago, 16 sculptures were returned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. There is still much work to be done but Cambodians are grateful international efforts to find and return the treasures are bearing fruit. Find more Hawaii, Oahu, Maui and Kauai news here "Now they return home. The lost soul and culture finally be home."