LOS ANGELES, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Christie's auction house has returned a duplicate Oscar statuette honoring a World War II documentary to the U.S. Army after the item disappeared for more than 40 years, said the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Thursday.

    The statuette, which honored late Hollywood director Frank Capra for his work on the 1942 documentary "Prelude to War," was removed from the auction block and returned to the Army on Wednesday night, the academy said in a statement.

    It is not the original Oscar which the academy awarded for the film, but a duplicate given to the U.S. Department of Defense in 1958 in connection with a special exhibition. The statuette was in the care of the Army Pictorial Center after the exhibition.

    Academy officials notified the Army recently after they saw Christie's auction house was offering the statuette for sale, and Army asserted its claim on the statuette. According to the academy, the auction house was pleased to return the statuette back to the Army's care.

    Pentagon officials said they didn't know what happened to the statuette after the Army Pictorial Center closed in 1970.

    "Prelude to War," directed by then-Major Frank Capra, was the first documentary of the U.S. Army Special Services' seven-part film series "Why We Fight" produced to explain why America entered World War II.

    The original Oscar for the film remains in the care of the Capra family, according to the academy.

    The returned award will be displayed at the Department of the Army Headquarters for Public Affairs Office at the Pentagon, Army officials said.