The 5,300-pound bell stolen from a San Francisco church turned up near the Port of Oakland Wednesday.
Police found the historic 122-year-old bell at a salvage yard near 9th and Pine Street after getting a tip. It was hidden under a bunch of dirty tarps, according to George Wesolek, communications director for the Archdiocese.
St. Mary's Cathedral on Gough Street in San Francisco had the 4-foot-tall bell displayed in its parking lot near a garden area. It was reported missing last Sunday, but no one knows for sure how or when it actually disappeared.
The bell was originally purchased from the McShane Bell Foundry in Maryland before it was shipped to the cathedral in 1889. It survived the 1906 earthquake and a fire that burned down the original cathedral in the 1960s.
Made of 80 percent copper and 20 percent tin, the bell could be worth up to $75,000.
Investigators think the bell could be related to a recent string of copper thefts. Police have made no arrests, but are questioning employees at the salvage yard.
Now the church just needs to figure out how to get the thing back to San Francisco. Wesolek said they would probably need a truck and crane.
