Treasure hunt for buried golden statue encrusted with diamonds ends after 31-year search that captivated a nation

A popular hunt that had people searching for a buried treasure for 31 years has finally come to an end.

Dubbed “On the Trail of the Golden Owl,” the search captivated ten of thousands in France who joined the quest to find a statue made of an owl made of gold, silver and diamonds buried somewhere in the country in 1993.

The challenge was based on a book by Régis Hauser, who buried the statue, said to be worth around $165,000, according to Newsweek .

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To find it, participants had to solve 11 puzzles from the book and then find and resolve a 12th, hidden puzzle which lead to a token which revealed the location of the grand prize.

The announcement that the token had been located was made Thursday on Discord, an app designed for gaming.

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“Don’t go digging!” warned the message , which was written by Michel Becker, who crafted the prized statue and also illustrated the book on which the hunt was based.

“We confirm that the Golden Owl countermark was unearthed last night. It is therefore useless to go digging on the location you assume to be the cache.”

“Well done to the finder of the owl, huge congratulations are due,” he added.

“I hope we will learn the finder’s name in due course, and finally find the answers to the clues.”

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