Stolen Italian antiquities heading home

CHICAGO, June 16 (UPI) -- Hundreds of stolen Italian antiquities and documents, from 2,500-year-old pottery to a sample of Benito Mussolini's handwriting, have been returned by the FBI.

The treasure trove was collected by John Sisto, a book dealer in Berwyn, Ill. When he died two years ago, his son, Joseph, of Duluth, Ga., called local police immediately, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Monday.

"It didn't feel right. It never felt right," Joseph Sisto said. "To me, having the stuff was always a burden."

FBI investigators say John Sisto knew the items he bought, now worth an estimated $10 million, had been taken illegally from archaeological sites or stolen. They believe he originally planned to sell them but became so attached to them he turned his two-story suburban house into an overcrowded museum, learning how to read medieval Latin so he could translate papal documents.

The FBI art theft unit spent two years finding the rightful owners of about 1,600 items. The Sisto family gets to keep the rest, but Joseph said his brother is welcome to it.

"It led to an unhappy childhood filled with work and drudgery," Sisto said, remembering unhappy summers trudging around Italy and days spent unpacking crates and cataloguing the contents.