Conclusion of search launched by 1993 picture puzzle book leaves chouetteurs with mixed emotions

Somewhere in France, a small statuette of a bird in flight has emerged from the soil in which it has lain buried for more than three decades. The quest for the golden owl, one of the world’s longest-running treasure hunts, appears finally to be over.

“A potentially winning solution is being verified,” read a post on the hunt’s official chatline, published at 6.11am on Thursday. “No more solutions may be submitted. Further information will be communicated as soon as possible.”