State police recover $250,000 in stolen antiques

OAKLAND – Maine State Police recovered more than $250,000 worth of antique guns and other items Friday from a storage building here that allegedly were stolen from a home in Warren.

State police Detective Robin Parker said the stolen property includes dozens of guns dating from the Revolutionary and Civil wars, the Morning Sentinel reported.

Other items include antique gunpowder flasks, pots, storage trunks, arrowheads, books, baskets and other collectibles.

Police declined to identify whom the property was stolen from, or when the theft occurred. The loot recovered Friday is only a portion of what was stolen.

“The total loss to the victim is going to be between $400,000 and $500,000, probably,” Parker said.

Police said the victim and her late husband had been collecting the items for more than 35 years. Some of the guns are worth more than $30,000 each.

Some of the stolen items began surfacing last December in auction houses and on the Internet. Some stolen firearms were sold to gun dealers and others have been tracked to points in Maryland and Connecticut.

“Some of the things have not only left the state, but left the country already, so some things will be unrecoverable,” Parker said.

Parker said the owner of the property at one point told him she didn’t think she would ever see the stolen items again. He said many of the items had sentimental value for her and her husband, who had collected them in preparation for their retirement.

State police Lt. Dale Lancaster said detectives have suspects in the case, but no charges have been filed.

“We have two prime suspects that have been cooperative up to this point of the investigation,” Lancaster said.