The Sarnia Police Service has recovered a historic bell reported stolen in the city's downtown core earlier this month.
Sarnia police issued a news release on July 16 appealing for the public's help to find the bell, which was stolen from the Lochiel-Kiwanis Community Centre property.
Officers returned the bell to the community centre Wednesday afternoon.
Police said they received some information that was followed up on by officers, and members of the Major Case Action Team (MCAT) found the bell at a home in the city on Tuesday.
"We were able to get cooperation from the people at that property to return the bell to us," said Sgt. Jordan Dufton.
The theft of the bell is still under investigation and charges are pending.
Sgt. Dufton said getting the bell back was important.
"It was nice to see that we had cooperation from the public to help us with getting this back to the rightful owner's hands, as well as good solid police work," he said.
Members of the centre were elated to hear the bell was found and not damaged.
"We figured it was gone, how do you hope to get something back when you don't know when it was stolen? Don't know where it was, anything, I think the police have done a great job" said Lochiel-Kiwanis Community Centre Executive Director Richard Felton.
He said the bell is a symbol of the work they do at the community centre.
"It's good that it's back but, more importantly, is the building and the kids. We put about 1,000 kids a week through this building," Felton said.
