A treasure box discovered last month by Cub Scouts playing at Camp Duarte has been returned to its owner.

Rob Seaton, 33, an Oak Bluffs contractor, said the box of precious family items was stolen from his mother’s house in Vineyard Haven, October 2002.

Cub Scouts from Pack 93 were having an end-of-season cookout at Camp Duarte on the evening of May 26, when two runabout scouts discovered a steel box near a wooded path. Upon opening it, the campers discovered the military-style box contained jewelry, knives and a rusty Civil War-era pistol. The box was water-logged and filled with insects and looked as if it had been in the woods for years.

The scouts who made the discovery were Gregory Clark and Harrison Neille-Arena, both nine. Following the discovery the box was turned over to the Oak Bluffs police.

Mr. Seaton said he learned about the discovery, while having a conversation with a Vineyard Haven customer. “She had read the article in the Vineyard Gazette,” he said. “She printed the article. As I started reading it, my heart dropped. I knew it was my stuff.”

Mr. Seaton recovered the report he had filed with the Tisbury police nine years before and took it to the Oak Bluffs police. “This is mine and it was stolen. I had inherited [the box] from my parents,” he said.

“The box was stolen from my mother’s [Alice] house on Lambert’s Cove Road . . . it was a breaking and entering. The box was hidden in my closet. I don’t know how they found it. It was the only thing taken from the house,” Mr. Seaton recalled. “I never thought I would see it again,” he added.

The 1853 Civil War pistol had been in his family for generations. “I think it belonged to my great-grandfather,” Mr. Seaton said.

The box also contained gold teeth that Mr. Seaton said were from his great-grandparents. “It doesn’t get any more personal than that,” he said.

Oak Bluffs police Sgt. Michael Marchand said police were happy to return the box and its contents to the rightful owner. “I thought it would be sitting in our evidence room for years,” the sergeant said, adding: “We are happy there is closure to this. I am sure this is a story those kids will be telling for years.”