NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH, Mass.—A group of residents in this town of 28,000 near the Rhode Island border is urging the North Attleborough board of selectmen to sell a valuable painting that had hung in a local school for decades, reports the Press Democrat.

The Afghans, by the mid-20th century Russian artist Alexandre Iacovleff, is currently in the custody of Sotheby’s and is estimated to be worth $1 million. Another Iacovleff, Three Women in a Box at the Theater, recently fetched $1.9 million at Sotheby's in London.

The school board voted to sell the work after a local resident called attention to the painting in February 2007, but the board of selectman overruled the decision, at least in part due to pleas from the original donor’s grandson that the gift be honored, as reported in the Boston Globe shortly after the painting’s rediscovery.

At tomorrow’s board meeting, a group of residents plans to present a petition signed by more than 200 registered voters urging the board to reverse its decision and use the proceeds from the sale to fund arts programs in local schools.