Waldorf Astoria Collects Stolen Hotel Property

Three small, silver spoons elegantly engraved with the words "Waldorf Astoria" have come full circle: Stolen eight decades ago by an employee of the famed hotel, they passed through two Brooklyn homes and another three in New Jersey.

Earlier this month, Brigid Brown packed them up and took them back through the grand, chandeliered foyer of the hotel. She was returning them as part of a new Waldorf "amnesty program" that seeks pilfered hotel property, no questions asked.

The spoons have joined dozens of other items that are back in their rightful place, including teapots, creamers and a sugar bowl.

The Waldorf doesn't call them stolen items. Each was "secretly checked out," the hotel says on its Facebook page. And "we're giving you the chance to give it back."
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)