The bronze bust of Kentucky Fried Chicken founder Col. Harland Sanders that was taken from a Berea, Ky., KFC earlier this year has been returned.
The bust, valued at $1,200, was reported stolen on Jan. 24. It was returned Friday by Berea police, who had retrieved it from police in Independence in Northern Kentucky.
The Independence department had recovered the bust from a young man who had it in a basement, said Jean Anderson, who owns the Berea KFC building with her husband, Les. The Andersons opened the Berea restaurant in 1971. The bust has not been placed back on display.
"We were thrilled just to get him back," Anderson said of the bust. "I was never so tickled in my life."
The Berea department received a tip about the whereabouts of the bust, which was apparently taken as a prank, said Berea Police Capt. Ken Clark. Berea police informed the Independence department, which found the bust at the address that the tipster gave.
Anderson said she is not interested in pressing charges.