Central Park’s stolen eagles return to roost

updated 12:36 p.m. ET July 11, 2009

NEW YORK - Two bronze eagles stolen from Central Park more than 30 years ago by a drug dealer who used them to store his stash are finally back at home.

Prosecutors say the statues were stolen from the City Employees War Memorial at the Mall in the mid-1970s. They say a drug dealer hid narcotics and money in the statues and later sold the bronze eagles to a client for $200.

Federal agents seized the statues in May 2008 after receiving a tip from the drug dealer. The statues were handed over to the city's parks department this week.

Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe said the eagles would be reaffixed to the 83-year-old memorial. The memorial's designer, George John Lober, also created Central Park's famous Hans Christian Andersen statue.

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