Wooden statues stolen from French abbey 60 years ago are found
The statues were tracked down to two private homes. The 'owners' were unaware they had been stolen
The Saint-Sever-de-Rustan abbey has a church with 18th century wood carving
Abbaye de Saint Sever de Rustan / coeursudouest-tourisme.com
Wooden statues that were stolen from an abbey in south-west France in the 1960s and have been missing ever since have been found thanks to research by an archive worker.
Four statues from the Saint-Sever-de-Rustan abbey in Hautes-Pyrénées (Occitanie) have been found at the homes of two individuals in Pyrénées-Atlantiques.
One was in Bigorre, and the three others were in Pays Basque, the Gendarmerie des Hautes-Pyrénées said in online posts.
This rediscovery resulted from a partnership between a staff member of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departmental archives, the gendarmerie, and the l'Office Central de Lutte Contre le Trafic des Biens Culturels (cultural property trafficking office).
As part of the research, the worker made an inventory of the department's listed assets. With the support of the law enforcement agencies, three statues were located at a private home in Pays Basque and the fourth at was found at another private home in Bigorre on August 9.
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The gendarmerie said that the current ‘owners’ of the statues had acted in good faith and were unaware that they had been stolen. One of the owners has now returned the property to the abbey.
The abbey and church are listed as official Monument Historiques. The church includes an altar dedicated to Saint Jean Baptiste, and there is a carved wooden table that dates from the 18th century. The statues were part of the display, and date to the same time.
