Thousands Of Artworks Are Deemed Stolen.

A two-year investigation of religious artifacts and relics found in the home of an Illinois collector in 2007 has determined that 1,600 of them were stolen, the Web site ChicagoBreakingNews.com reported. On Monday federal officials announced the result of its investigation into the collection of John Sisto, who after his death in 2007 was discovered to have kept more than 3,500 works in his bungalow in Berwyn, Ill., including documents written by kings and popes and the preface to a book handwritten by Mussolini. An F.B.I. spokesman told the Web site that the stolen items, one shown above, were believed to be worth between $5 million and $10 million and were to be returned to Italy later this week. The F.B.I. said there would be no American criminal prosecutions stemming from the theft, transportation or possession of the items. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]