Thief returns stolen antique case
Wednesday December 23 2009
A thief with a conscience has returned an antique cigarette case stolen from a stately home in Co Fermanagh.
The contrite pilferer also sent a letter apologising for nabbing the case while taking a tour round Florence Court four years ago.
The valuable item once belonged to the 6th Earl of Enniskillen, the late David Lowry Cole.
Florence Court is the Cole ancestral home and the 60-year-old case, which bore the earl's initials DLC, had been on display in the 18th Century National Trust property along with other valuable family possessions.
Staff had all but given up hope of ever seeing it again when it vanished in 2005 until a mysterious package landed on the doormat last week. Along with the missing antique, inside there was a letter from the light-fingered visitor, who signed off only as DL.
"I am so appalled when I think of my outrageous behaviour and can only comfort myself slightly in the knowledge that I no longer feel the urge to take things that do not belong to me," the reformed thief wrote.
"I realise how splendidly the National Trust engages in Ireland and England, minding wonderful houses and properties so that they can be enjoyed and the last thing they need are people stealing items or causing any other kind of damage. I am sorry that I do not have the courage to declare my name."
Jim Chestnutt, Florence Court's property manager, said he was glad the unknown miscreant had decided to make good on a past wrong.
"We are grateful to the person who has expressed remorse over this crime and has returned the case to its rightful home," he said.
"Florence Court belongs to everyone so we are delighted that all our visitors can now view the case again it in its natural setting, as part of the history of the house and the story of the Earls of Enniskillen."
