Kuala Lumpur, March 9 (IANS): An investigation led by church officials into an allegedly weeping statue of Mother Mary at a village in Malaysia's Sabah state began on Monday, a media report said.

The incident occurred in a village in Penampang district, the Malaysian Star reported.

The statue was brought from the Philippines about a year ago by owner Michael George.

Michael said he had taken the statue to be blessed by an Archbishop on March 1 and on the following day, his youngest son had noticed liquid droplets on the statue’s face.

He said his family intended to keep the statue at their house for at least another month, until Easter, before deciding whether to hand it over to the church for it to be kept and assessed.

Hundreds of devotees have been visiting to see the statue since the phenomenon was reported.

There have been at least 15 known cases of “weeping” statues in various countries since 1949 and many of these have remained unverified or rejected by the church.