Antique weather vane missing for 40 years. Returned

Ladies and gentlemen… we’ve got it.

The long national nightmare is officially over with news that an antique weather vane that once sat atop a Vermont train station has been recovered after being stolen 40 years ago and is now on its way home.

We can rest easy tonight…

The weather vane was made in 1910 and was part of the decor at White River Junction station. That was until November 3, 1983 – a day that will live in infamy – when it was stolen.

And anyone who sees a weather vane and thinks: ‘I have to steal that.’ I love weather vanes as much as the next guy, but not enough to steal someone else’s weather vane. Even a really good weather vane, like the kind with the rooster on it, which everyone knows is an elite weather vane.

Although I can’t remember the last time I looked at a weather vane, because 1). I normally don’t need to know which direction the wind is coming from unless I’m playing golf (and even then, it wouldn’t help me if I didn’t throw the wind into a pond), and 2). if I want to know, I check an app.

But apparently weather vanes still have some cache because someone recently tried to auction this weather vane at Sotheby’s auction house and they realized that this weather vane the weather vane.

An antique weather vane that went missing more than 40 years ago has been found, so now we can all rest easy. (Getty Images)

“We are pleased to see this valuable historical artifact and beautiful work of art returned here to Vermont,” Judith Ehrlich — who serves as historic preservation officer for the Vermont Agency of Transportation — said in a statement to the Associated Press.

I’m glad to hear this story has a happy ending. All those other weather vane theft stories you see on the news usually end in tragedy.