Man returns stolen plaque after 50 years

Guilty conscience over childhood prank finally caught up with him

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updated 9:40 a.m. ET Oct. 4, 2008

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Tim Haney of Normal, Ill., finally had enough of his conscience nagging him about a Halloween prank he once participated in.

Haney said he and a couple of his young friends took a historical plaque from a tree at the Vrooman Mansion in Bloomington. He was about 12 at the time.

He's 62 now.

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So, 50 years after the event, he recently took the plaque back to the Vrooman Mansion and told innkeeper Theora Stark there about his long-ago misdeed.

Stark says the 12-by-15-inch plaque is now in a vault at the mansion, but she expects it will go back on display.

The plaque made reference to Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas giving speeches under the tree.