The statue, a copy of an original in gold and silver, was buried in April 1993 and it wasn't until Thursday that one of those responsible could announce that it had been found.
"It was dug up last night", wrote the creator Michel Becker on a forum on the chat function Discord.
Over 7,000 people searched for the statue, but where it was found has not yet been made public. First, it needs to be confirmed that the person or people who found it did so with the help of the clues published in a book in 1993.
The eleven riddles are said to lead to the right spot, but they are all intricate and several forums have been created on the internet by treasure hunters seeking help.
Becker designed the ten-kilogram heavy owl, while his partner Régis Hauser wrote the book with the riddles. Hauser, however, never got to experience someone finding the statue, as he passed away in 2009.
Becker himself did not know until 2021 where the statue was buried, when Hauser's relatives gave him a diskette with all the information. He had gone to court ten years earlier to gain access to the answers to the riddles.
In recent years, Becker has published new clues to lead the amateur detectives on the right track, which is believed to have led to this week's discovery.
The person who found the bronze statue will receive the original as a prize, which according to AFP is said to have been worth approximately 1.5 million kronor when it was buried.
Corrected: In an earlier version of the text, the statue was given the wrong bird species.
