A police department in North Yorkshire inadvertently opened themselves up to Lord of the Rings memes and jokes. After recovering property from a burglary, they posted onto social media looking for the owner of a “distinctive piece of jewelry.” Not realizing that ring was actually a replica of the One Ring from Tolkien’s beloved fantasy books and from Peter Jackson’s Oscar-winning movies, the police department was quite surprised and amused at the response. Their post stated:
Officers in York are trying to locate the owner of a distinctive silver ring and are appealing to the public for their help . . . Sadly despite their efforts, officers have been unable to trace the ring back to its rightful owner . . . As it is such a distinctive piece of jewellery, we’re hoping that someone will recognise the markings and be able to tell us who it rightfully belongs to, as I’m sure someone, somewhere is missing it.”
Comments on the Facebook post have included:
We can assist! We think (one of) the original owners was a Mr. Smeagol. He used to live near Gladden Fields near the River Anduin. Hope that helps.”
North Yorkshire police: I wish the Ring had never come to us. I wish none of this had happened.”
In unrelated news, a biker gang of nine riders, dressed in black, has been spotted riding with reckless speed across England towards York . . . “
History became legend, legend became myth, and for two and a half thousand years, the ring passed out of all knowledge. Until it was picked up by the most unlikely creature imaginable . . . a Yorkshireman.”
I like half these comments half as well as I should like them; and I like less them half of these comments half as well as they deserve.”
The police department got a good laugh regarding their lack of knowledge about the Lord of the Rings, commenting that they need to brush up on their movie knowledge. But they are also hopeful that this increased publicity will help them find the rightful owner. The ring was initially taken back in February of 2019, and it has taken a year to recover this property. Since the post, it has already been shared 20,000 times and received 16,000 comments.