A Wellington, New Zealand family is delighted to be reunited with an invaluable reminder of Second World War.
Last week police issued a public appeal to locate the family who owned a scroll found during a search in Naenae.
The scroll was given to Private Harold Lumby’s family after he was killed in Greece during the war.
Daniel Lumby, his great-grandson, was tagged in a photo of the document on Facebook.
Corrections Officer Daniel Lumby said he was flabbergasted when he viewed the photo online. He had not seen the scroll since just before he was a teenager.
It has been in the back of his mind, and when he saw it on the social media site he was over the moon, he related.
Lumby said it is the only item the family possesses to remember his great-grandfather. He considers its value to be beyond price.
The scroll was exhibited in his grandmother’s house in Silverstream, but when she relocated to Foxton it was placed in storage and disappeared. It now takes pride of place in the Lumby household.
Her father is going to show it in his lounge, and is to be reframed because the quality of the glass has declined somewhat.
Detective Ben Hurley has been attempting to trace the owner of the scroll for the past year.
He said he located it in the roof of a house and realized it was out of place, so did not want to leave it there.
It appeared to be something quite unique, he felt it should be with the family it belonged to, he explained.
The detective then checked with previous homeowners and with the Army to determine if he could track down the family it belonged to with success, which is when he resolved to enlist the media, NZ Herald News reported.
He said he is happy it is now home where it should be.