A Gwinnett County church has a reason to rejoice after investigators found a stolen antique bell that belonged to the church.

Pastor Wayne Stancel said the 100-pound cast-iron bell was a well-known symbol of the Duncan Creek Christian Congregational Church on Braselton Highway.

Late last week, a member of the church found the bell had been stolen.

The Jackson County Sheriff's Department told Channel 2's Kerry Kavanaugh on Monday the department had recovered the bell after a man said he had purchased the bell and contacted it after seeing the news reports about it being stolen.

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• Antique church bell stolen

The sheriff's department told Kavanaugh they believe the bell had exchanged hands at least three times since it was stolen.

They said they are still investigating who stole the bell, but so far no one had been charged.

The church was founded in the 1850s. The original bell notified the community of the death of a church member.