HONG KONG (AP) — On Wednesday, Sotheby's stopped selling jewelry linked to Buddha. They stopped because the Indian government did not agree with the sale and asked them to stop.

The auction house said the jewels for sale were found together in special boxes in northern India in 1898. They were found with old religious items and bones of the Buddha. The jewels are from about 240 to 200 years before Christ.

But the government in India said on Facebook that it told Sotheby's to stop selling the statue. The government said the sale was against India's laws, international rules, and agreements from the UN.

In a letter to Sotheby's Hong Kong on Monday, they stated that the items being auctioned are sacred Buddhist relics. They believe these relics are an essential part of the religious and cultural heritage of India and the global Buddhist community. They requested that the relics be returned to the Indian government and that Sotheby's and Chris Peppé issue a public apology.

Peppé is the great-grandson of William Peppé. William Peppé was a British man who found the relics.

India said that if the auction house did not follow the rules, they would go to court and tell people that the house helped sell religious items taken when India was a colony.

Sotheby's said on Wednesday that they would have the sale later. This is because of the problems the Indian government mentioned. The people who were selling the things also said yes to this change.

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Some pages on the Sotheby's website about the sale were not working on Wednesday.

India's culture ministry said on Facebook on Wednesday that the sale was stopped after they asked for it.