Why does Java allow access to a static member with an instance of an object

I understand that static members belong to a class. Why then does Java allow me to access them using an object?

To understand what I mean, see the following example:

public class Student {
  public static int number = 0;
}

Here numberis a static field that belongs to the class Student, but I can still access it, as shown below:

Student s = new Student();
int n = s.number;

What is the rationale for this decision?