At 3 1/2 feet tall, the statue of the popular cartoon character weighs 200 pounds and is worth about $30,000.

The city of Monterey, California, offered a $5,000 reward for the statue’s return.

Last month, authorities said it arrived at Brothers Scrap Metal of Orlando among other metal objects that were set to be melted down.

The owner’s daughter-in-law recognized the statue and did an Internet search, which turned up media coverage of the stolen statue.

The scrap metal company, Orange County deputies and the Monterey Police Department are making arrangements for the statue's return.

Authorities didn’t say who turned in the statue. It’s unclear how it got to Florida.

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Former Fulton County election worker Ruby Freeman talks to her daughter, Wandrea ArShaye "Shaye" Moss, a former Georgia election worker, after she testified before the U.S. House Select Committee at its fourth hearing on its Jan. 6 investigation on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/TNS)

Credit: TNS