A huge metal fork reported stolen earlier this year was found propped against a utility pole along a busy highway Wednesday.

Statesboro Police Advanced Patrol Officer Justin Samples, the public information officer with the department, said the 7-foot-tall, 150-pound steel fork stolen from the intersection of Johnson and West Main streets — the fork in the road — was recovered shortly after noon Wednesday when someone noticed the jumbo-sized eating utensil standing against a utility pole on Veterans Memorial Parkway near Cypress Lake Road.

The fork was stolen from the location of JEJ Tax Specialists and Westside Gold and Pawn, owned by Glenn De Vecchis, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

For about two years, he marked the location of his business with the gigantic fork, telling customers to "look for the fork in the road," he said in an interview shortly after the fork was reported missing.

Whoever took the fork didn't just grab it and run, he said at the time.

The solid steel fork, created by his friend Lester Clark, had been secured in the ground with screws into a concrete pad, topped by a bolted-on metal plate. Taking it was no easy feat, he said then.

"I don't know if they stole it for scrap or to put it in an apartment" as a conversation piece, he said. "I have no idea who stole it."

Neither do police, Samples said Wednesday.

There was no indication of who left the fork along the parkway, but possibly the culprits realized it would be impossible to hide or sell for scrap such a highly recognizable piece, especially after its theft had been reported in the Statesboro Herald, Samples said.

The unique ornament has sentimental value more than anything, De Vecchis said after reporting the theft earlier this summer. Anyone who tried to sell it for scrap would likely draw attention for having such an unusual piece, he said.

When it was stolen, he offered a $100 reward for its return. Anyone with information regarding who stole the fork can contact him at (912) 489-3618 or contact Statesboro police at (912) 764-9911.

Samples said Bulloch County sheriff's deputies used a truck to recover the fork, as it was too large to fit in a police patrol car.

Holli Deal Bragg may be reached at (912) 489-9414.