PHNOM PENH: U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia Partrick Murphy has announced a new US Government grant through the Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation of US $360,800 for the restoration of the Preah Vihear Temple.

Speaking at the handover ceremony of 27 stolen artifacts returned to Cambodia at the National Museum of Cambodia on Wednesday, 13 July, Ambassador Murphy said that the donation of more than US $360,000 is a gift in addition to the US $406,000 donation that has already been provided by the U.S. government for the preservation of this historic temple in northern Cambodia.

The Preah Vihear Temple is an ancient Hindu temple built during the Khmer Empire period, perched on a 525-meter-high mountain in the Dangrek Mountains of Preah Vihear Province, Cambodia. The Temple of Preah Vihear was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List on 7 July 2008.

In the fighting between Cambodian and Thai troops over the Temple of Preah Vihear in 2011, the temple structure was badly damaged by Thai shelling on the temple grounds.