Tomb raiders have struck again in Sarawak, digging up graves in search for gold ornaments after lying low for about seven months, a local tribe chieftain said today.

Longhouse chief Stanley Gramong, who lodged a police report, said the latest discovery was made Tuesday when an Iban family visited the graveyard to build a concrete tomb.

The graveyard is located just outside Sibu town in Sarawak.

It is customary for a dead Iban woman to be buried with her jewellery.

More than 100 tombs had been plundered over the past three years, Bernama news agency said.

Tomb raiders even extract a dead person's artificial tooth if it was made of gold, the agency said.

Last February, an angry Iban community held a rare public ritual to curse the tomb robbers.

Robbers then plundered 26 tombs and scattered the remains all over the cemetery. Police have yet to charge anyone in court for the offence.