Artifacts stolen from Topkapi Palace found in bags in Istanbul mosque

Thieves who stole several historical artifacts from Topkapi Palace in June apparently left them Wednesday at the entrance of an Istanbul mosque with a note asking that they be returned to the &to=http://english.pravda.ru/printed.html?news_id=16465' target=_blank>Istanbul museum, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported.

The items were stolen over the summer when thieves broke a small window of a depot housing mostly damaged items at the museum.

"We present the pieces we took with nothing missing ... please deliver these pieces to their place," television station CNN-Turk quoted the note as saying. The items were placed in two bags inside a mosque in the district of Fatih.