Four years ago, a woman from Texas bought a 2,000-year-old Roman bust at a Goodwill store for $34.99.
Laura Young said she found a historic marble relic at the Far West Goodwill in Austin, Texas. Goodwill did not respond immediately to Insider's request for comment.
Young told Austin NPR Station KUT that she contacted an auction house, which confirmed the piece was an original bust. She did not reply immediately.
According to the art law firm that advised Young on the discovery, the bust was displayed in the courtyard of Pompejandum, a replica of a courtyard in the 1800s, which was owned by King Ludwig of Bavaria.
Some items, including the bust, disappeared after Pompejandum was hit by US allied forces in 1944 and 1945.
He was one of the busts owned by Young, and he was the co-star of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia."
He was attractive, he was cold, and he was not friendly. I could not have him. Young told KUT that he was called Dennis.
Young told KUT that a deal had been sealed to find a permanent home for Dennis. A small finders fee for Young was included in the deal.
The piece was not sold by the museum or the German government, but it was still owned by the state of Bavaria and would have been worth a lot of money. The law firm did not respond immediately to Insider's request for comment.
Young told The New York Times that he couldn't keep him and he couldn't sell him.
It was very sad, to say the least. Art theft during a war is a war crime because I only have control over what I can control. I can not be a part of it.
The San Antonio Museum of Art will lend the bust for a year. It will be returned to the Bavarian Administration of State-Owned Palaces, Gardens and Lakes. The museums didn't respond to Insider's requests for comment outside normal working hours.
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