Police were baffled after finding dozens of Buddhist amulets and statues dumped in a canal in Thailand.

Residents noticed the religious objects floating in the sludge in the Khlong Lat Luang canal in Samut Prakan province on June 19 afternoon.

When the locals waded through the dirty water to retrieve them, they were shocked to discover that an entire haul of amulets and statues had been thrown into the waterway.

The Phra Pradaeng District Police Station said they received a report about the discovery at around 3:30 pm on Monday.

Officers arrived at the scene and found a crowd of bystanders already gathered at the canal, with some hoping to fish out valuable sacred items beneath the surface.

Police Major Krerkchai from the Phra Pradaeng Police Station said: 'We have cleaned and collected the items, which will be taken as evidence at the police station. We are trying to find out where they came from. The relevant organisations have been notified to search for more statues in the canal.'

Police have so far recovered 38 statues - 20 golden Buddha statues, 9 black Buddha statues, a Ji Gong statue, a King Naresuan the Great statue, a King Chulalongkorn statue, and six Buddha resin statues.

Burmese resident Lek, 44, said he had been resting at home when he heard the commotion at the canal.

He said: 'My neighbours asked me to dive into the canal to search for the statues. I was scared at first, but when I found the Buddha statues, I was pleasantly surprised. I had to stop diving because I suffered wounds on my leg and hand, but I think there are more amulets buried in the mud.'