Photo by Jennifer Buckhout.

They're not as valuable as the pieces by Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse that were stolen from a Netherlands gallery on Oct. 16, but they are quite meaningful to the Guthrie Theater, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

Two banners that were stolen from the Guthrie 35 years ago were returned Wednesday by an anonymous man. The yard-long nylon pennants, one blue and one red, were hung on the street outside the old Guthrie on Vineland Place before they went missing. Who took them and why have been a mystery.

They were turned in by a man who walked up to the box office. He indicated that they had been stolen but did not say much else, said Guthrcommunications manager Seena Hodges.

"As we're celebrating our 50th anniversary, people have been bringing a lot of things to the theater," she said. "Someone brought a poster from our inaugural season."

The banners will probably be archived, Hodges said.