The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Philadelphia Division and other authorities announced Monday that they found an American Revolution musket stolen in an art heist in the 1960s.
Philadelphia’s Museum of the American Revolution held a ceremony where the FBI Art Crime Team, Philadelphia Field Office and others “repatriated” the musket after it was taken “from Valley Forge in October 1968,” the FBI’s Philadelphia Public Affairs team wrote.
A ‘hello’ to arms: Stolen musket returned, joins collection at the Museum of the American Revolution. https://t.co/D5i0hjaoRC
— NBC10 Philadelphia (@NBCPhiladelphia) July 1, 2024
The FBI posted a story in April 2024 about a bunch of historical artifacts taken in the 1968 heist. After the story was released, the FBI got a tip leading them to a Maryland antique firearms collector. The collector met with the FBI Art Crime Team and gave up the musket. The FBI reported that the collector had no knowledge or ties to the 1968 heist or knew the musket was stolen. (RELATED: ‘Extraordinary Piece Of Americana’: Feds Recover Theodore Roosevelt’s 126-Year-Old Watch Missing For Decades)
The musket’s insurer, now Chubb, paid the insurance claim in 1969, making them the owner of the musket. However, the company donated it to the museum in Philadelphia and signed over the deed at Monday’s ceremony.
“The theft of this musket from the museum kept countless visitors and historians from appreciating and studying it,” said Jacqueline Romero, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. “Today’s repatriation rights the wrong that was done so many years ago, reopening a window to the past. It’s an honor to help recover and preserve a piece of cultural property that helps tell the story of our nation’s valiant struggle for independence.”
“We are so thankful to our law enforcement and insurance partners for helping to bring this historic artifact back into the public trust,” President and CEO of the Museum of the American Revolution R. Scott Stephenson said. “Repatriating the New England musket to our Museum will allow for it to be cared for, further studied and put on display, all of which can inform our evolving understanding of the Revolutionary era and ensure its enduring relevance.”
“Chubb is honored to gift this historic Revolutionary War musket to its rightful home at the Museum of the American Revolution,” said Maria Thackston, vice president and mid-Atlantic regional claims executive at Chubb.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele and his office also assisted with the situation.
