The wheels of justice may grind slowly, but they do grind. U.S. officials yesterday seized a Pompeii fresco from an auction house in New York that was reported stolen 12 years ago.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said the Art Loss Register of New York had located the wall panel and brought it to the attention of American, Italian, and international law enforcement. The auction house was not identified.

The panel, which depicts a female figure holding a platter, was one of six that had been discovered between 1903 and 1904, when a farmer named Giuseppe De Martino did restoration work on his farmhouse. Half a century later, in 1957, the Italian government purchased the six frescos. In June 1997, it was noticed that they had gone missing.

Five of the six had already been recovered, so this week’s discovery closes the case. The U.S. government did not release further details on the theft or the return of the other frescos.