CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (WHDH) -- More than 30 years after a piece of artwork vanished from a Cambridge high school the valuable statue was recovered from a home in Somerville.

It’s not every day that James McGough of Arlington’s Cyrus Dallin Art Museum gets a phone call like the one he took recently. The caller said they had a statue called the “Praying Knight” and they wanted some information.

“I said, well, I would be delighted. I said give me a couple of hours to go through the files to find out the information I can -- of course I didn’t have to do that because I have it on the top of my head,” said James McGough.

McGough is an expert on the rare statue and he knew it was lost from Cambridge Ringe Latin School in 1980.

“We’re delighted that it’s been found,” said McGough.

It was created by artist Cyrus Dallin, who is known as the Dean of New England sculptors. Dallin made the “Praying Knight” to honor 11 Cambridge students who died in World War I.

Once McGough got off the phone he called the school department, who got police involved. It turns out a Somerville family had the statue.

“They told us they came into possession of it some 32 years ago and the person who purchased it, basically had since deceased and they were very cooperative when we went and spoke to them,” said Commissioner Robert Haas of the Cambridge Police Department.

The family handed the statue over to police and no charges were filed. Now the school needs to find a new, secure place for it.

“We’re delighted to see it. I’m happy to lay eyes on it myself and I just want to thank Detective O’Conner and Commissioner Haas and the Cambridge police department for doing a super job and bringing it back to where it belongs,” said Superintendent Jeff Young of the Cambridge School Department.