France News: A mass treasure hunt launched in France three decades ago have ended after the guardian of the elusive "Golden Owl" prize said someone had finally found it.
The finding marks the end of a search started in 1993 across France and a string of legal and financial battles over the Owl.
The hunt, “On the Trail of the Golden Owl,” was based on a book of riddles published in 1993.
Participants had to solve 11 puzzles in the book — and a 12th one was to decipher the exact location of the token.
"We confirm that the replica of the Golden Owl was dug up overnight," Michel Becker wrote on a channel on the chat app Discord with tens of thousands of followers.
"Don't go digging," he urged.
“It is therefore useless to go digging.”
A replica of the Golden Owl -- a ten-kilo (22-pound) gold and silver sculpture encrusted with diamonds -- was buried at a secret location in France in April 1993.
Anyone hoping to find it had to solve 11 riddles published in an accompanying book, "On the trail of the Golden Owl".
The book, written by author Régis Hauser and artist Michel Becker, built a cult-like following with a community of more than 200,000 players, known as “owlers,” from France and abroad, according to the hunt's official website.
If found, the replica could be exchanged for the real thing -- whose value was estimated at the time at 1 million French francs, or the equivalent of about 150,000 euros.
In order to claim the treasure, the winning player would need to submit the replica along with the answers to all of the book's enigmas.
Hauser, the intellectual architect of the riddles, had initially used the pen name Max Valentin to prevent the most assiduous treasure hunters from seeking him out. He died in 2009, French newspaper Le Mondereported.
He and Becker decided to bury a replica of the owl, keeping the precious original in a safe place.
