The unidentified solider told police in Lakewood, Wash., he found the ornate, pearl-handled gun in a storage locker in Fort Lewis last month and claimed base officials refused to accept it, so he turned it in to local police, KIRO-TV, Seattle, reported Tuesday.

But a Fort Lewis spokesman said the gun was brought from Iraq as a museum piece. Joe Piek told KIRO-TV the AK-47, which has an image of the deposed Iraqi president in its gun sights, came into the United States legally and had been "demilitarized" so it could no longer fire.

Piek said the weapon had been brought back by a unit on the base and was unsure how the solider obtained it.

The station said such rifles were often personally handed out by Saddam to high-ranking Baath party members and dignitaries and have become valuable souvenirs.