Vatican receives ransom demand for letter written by Michelangelo

The Vatican announced Sunday that it has received a ransom demand for 100,000 euros for the return of two documents written by Michelangelo.

A former Vatican employee is apparently holding the documents in question, which went missing from the Vatican archives in 1997. Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told BBC News that the cardinal in charge of St. Peter's Basilica refused to give the ransom money for the stolen documents. Vatican and Italian police are now investigating the case.

The Vatican hasn't revealed details about the documents, but BBC News reports that one of the documents is a letter signed by Michelangelo. The documents are rare because Michelangelo would normally have apprentices write letters for him, but this letter is written in Michelangelo's handwriting.

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