Stolen Bust of Benjamin Franklin Found on a Bus

It's worth $3 million

Ben Franklin is back home, a little worse for the wear after a trip on a bus.

A bust valued at $3 million by its owner of the famous founding father was returned to the Philadelphia region after authorities arrested a former cleaning woman who they said was carrying the stolen sculpture in a bag on a bus in Maryland.

The bust's owner, George D'Angelo, was relieved to hear authorities had recovered his family's heirloom, a 1778 plaster of Paris creation by French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon, which was stolen from his home in August.

"This is a great treasure," D'Angelo, 85, who lives in the upscale suburbs of Philadelphia, told Reuters on Monday.