NANCHANG - Six men have been jailed for between six months and three years after digging up five ancient tombs in a single day in East China's Jiangxi province.

The court of Xin'gan county has delivered the verdict to the graverobber gang, whose back-breaking efforts netted them a solitary antique incense burner, rather than the riches they had imagined.

The six, all from Waqiao village, were found guilty of "destroying ancient tombs and larceny" and their leader, surnamed Deng, was given three years in jail, according to the court.

Deng, who is disabled and makes a living by running a motorcab, and his five accomplices, hatched a plan to make money by excavating antiques from tombs in their village in June last year.

With steel chisels and shovels brought by Deng, they raided five tombs with a history of more than 200 years, scouring them one by one, all to find nothing more than a three-leg incense burner.

Police received reports on the damaged tombs and arrested the gang in August.

"They must have worked their tails off. The tombs are made of hard, thick earth and most of the work had to be done at night. It's a lot of toil," said a member of court staff who declined to give his name.

They sold the burner for 60,000 yuan ($9,660) to an antique dealer, who was later arrested for "purchasing theft" and is awaiting trial.