By Lance Gaither

lance.gaither@bluegrassnewsmedia.com

The metal urn weighing more than 800 pounds that was stolen from the front steps of Lexington Avenue Baptist Church has been found and returned to where it belongs.

The urn was discovered in an antique shop in Nicholasville.

Pastor Basil Hall is thankful for the church members who searched for the stolen urn.

“We were surprised when it was taken and even more surprised we were able to track it down,” Hall said. “We had a couple of faithful members that took the time to search for it and managed to find it. They brought it back, fixed it up, and potted it immediate.”

The congregation had thought the urn was gone for good and reached out to the store where the urn was first purchased 20 years ago, Clairebourne Antiques at Brannon Crossing in Nicholasville, in hopes of finding a replacement. Clairebourne Antiques had the exact urn the church was looking for, it just so happened to be the exact urn stolen from the church.

After the thieves stole the urn, they had sold it to Clairebourne Antiques. Although the antique store wanted to return the urn free of charge, the church paid Clairebourne the amount they paid the thieves for the urn. Clairebourne Antiques further provided the information of the person who sold the urn to them, but the church chose not to press charges.