(WHTM) — A ceremony for the restoration of history. Museum artifacts stolen decades ago have been recovered and will now be returned.

“This is a really important addition back to the collection,” said Jack Giblin, director of education and engagement for the United States Army Heritage and Education Center.

On Monday morning, 50 museum artifacts stolen half a century ago were returned to their rightful owners. Efforts from the FBI art crime team and Philadelphia area law enforcement will allow 16 museums to bring priceless items back home.

“It’s extremely important, this is a theft that occurred not only over several decades ago but had an impact on all of those museums over several decades and their interpretation, particularly ours,” said Giblin.

The United States Army Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle is one of the 10 museums in Pennsylvania getting stolen items back.

The investigation started in 2009 when someone turned in several firearms that had been stolen sometime in the late 1960s or 70s.

“These are really important parts of their community, the history of their particular organization, or an individual. And they have not been able to tell that story completely with those things missing, so for all of these institutions having those items back is really going to be important for them to finish out those stories that they couldn’t tell,” said Giblin.

Some of the returned items include a 1795 powder horn, a 1775 Revolutionary War-era Brown Bess style musket, 18th Century English and Scottish pistols, 18th and 19th Century Pennsylvania long rifles, and many more antique firearms.