A cemetery statue's missing head has returned two decades after it was stolen.

The missing head of a cemetery statue has been returned after two decades

The missing head of a cemetery statue has been returned after two decades

The Italian marble statue was erected in honour of Jennie Steeves, who died in 1900, but was subject to a number of acts of vandalism during the 1990s that led to the head disappearing.

Kathleen Wallace, a relative of Steeves', claimed that the statue had long been the subject of local superstitions in the Canadian province of New Brunswick.

She told CBC News: "There were all kinds of stories told about the monument - that it was haunted, that the eyes had rubies in them - but none of that is true."

Wallace explained that she and her sister offered rewards for the head's return when it was taken decades ago and was shocked when she saw a photo of the statue on Facebook recently.

She said: "It showed the statue with the head beside it, that the head had been returned."