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Man returns stolen plaque after 50 years

Tim Haney of Normal, Ill., finally had enough of his conscience nagging him about a Halloween prank he once participated in.
/ Source: The Associated Press

Tim Haney of Normal, Ill., finally had enough of his conscience nagging him about a Halloween prank he once participated in.

Haney said he and a couple of his young friends took a historical plaque from a tree at the Vrooman Mansion in Bloomington. He was about 12 at the time.

He's 62 now.

So, 50 years after the event, he recently took the plaque back to the Vrooman Mansion and told innkeeper Theora Stark there about his long-ago misdeed.

Stark says the 12-by-15-inch plaque is now in a vault at the mansion, but she expects it will go back on display.

The plaque made reference to Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas giving speeches under the tree.