A high school class ring sold for scrap gold at a local jewelry store led to the arrests of two men recently.

Employees of Stewart’s Jewelry Store in Washington notified the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office after a 1987 Bath High School class ring was brought to them to sell for scrap gold, according to Maj. Kenneth Watson, spokesman for the sheriff’s office.

As it turns out, the ring had been stolen from a residence on Harvey Road in Washington and had been reported as such on Feb. 25, said the release.

Christopher Lloyd Webster, 22, of Respess Road, Pinetown, was arrested June 2 by the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office and was charged with one count of misdemeanor larceny and one county of obtaining property by false pretense. Harley Shayne Asby, 18, of Sand Pit Lane, Washington, was arrested May 29 and charged with obtaining property by false pretense.

The class ring was returned to the owner, a relative of one of the two men arrested.

“We appreciate Stewart’s Jewelry Store being proactive and reaching out to us with that information,” Watson said.