SANFORD (AP) — Police have recovered a 100-pound, bronze plaque that was on the base of a statute of one Sanford’s most famous citizens and charged a 21-year-old man in connection with its disappearance.

Police, acting on a tip, found the plaque taken from the statue of Thomas Goodall on Saturday covered by a sheet in the closet of a nearby apartment. Zachary Blier was charged with stealing it.

Police told WMTW-TV (http://bit.ly/15fqv3N ) they were tipped off by a man who wanted to collect the $500 reward offered by City Councilor Fred Smith.

Blier told police he and a friend had been drinking, climbed the statue and the plaque fell off. Police say there’s no evidence they planned to sell it for scrap.

Goodall was textile magnate who employed thousands of city residents.

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