A rare war medal missing for three years was returned to its owner just in time to appear at a Tauranga antique fair at the weekend.

The medal's owner, Peter Zervos of Ikon Antiques and Militaria, said the unique piece was returned only a week ago after being stolen from a gun fair in Auckland in 2008.

"It just appeared - a woman tried to sell it to a jeweller, who recognised it because they are so rare. This would be the only one in New Zealand," he said.

The medal was a Distinguished Service Order (DSO) awarded to a Romanian major during World War I.

"It was very rare because usually only British subjects were awarded that," Mr Zervos said.

He found the piece in an antique shop in Bucharest, Romania, about 10 years ago.

The return of the medal was a timely piece of good luck for the antique dealer - his Lyttelton home was "flattened" in the Christchurch earthquake.

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