A $500 reward for the safe return of three stolen Civil War-related items is being offered by the Sigma Nu fraternity.

On Nov. 4, members of the house awoke to the disturbance of an intruder at 5 a.m., but the members of the house only saw a silhouette of the perpetrator, according to Dan Morgan, sergeant of Investigations at the Urbana Police Department.

“It kind of has the flavor of some inter-fraternity activity,” Morgan said. “These are not the kind of things that your typical burglar or crackhead steals. There’s probably a pretty good chance that they’re sitting in somebody else’s frat house as we speak, but I don’t know that for a fact.”

David Nirschl, Sigma Nu alumni adviser, said around $3,000 to $4,000 worth of items were stolen. Among the articles taken were a copy of the portrait of Abraham Lincoln that hangs in the White House , an antique leather-bound book with gold lettering titled “A Civil War Soldier” and a 4-by-3 foot painting of General Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee shaking hands.

Nirschl said that Sigma Nu was born out of the Civil War, so these items were particularly meaningful to the fraternity. He was one of the alumni who recently gave the painting of Grant and Lee to the house.

“That is fundamental to the unifying principles of Sigma Nu, which is love, truth and honor,” Nirschl said. “Because at the end of the Civil War, for a lot of people, the only thing a man had was his honor.”

The University has one of the largest Greek systems in the world, with 68 fraternities and 36 sororities registered. Jeremy Palgen, recruitment chair and Sigma Nu president-elect, said it’s not unlikely that taking the items was a prank.

“It’s quite a possibility that it was premeditated. It’s not something that any normal, petty thief is going to take,” Palgen said. “We’re a small fraternity, we don’t look to tick anybody off. This is a rather expensive prank if that’s what it is. It’s unlikely, but it is certainly probable.”

Morgan said it could be likely that the paintings are hanging in another fraternity’s house, but no evidence has confirmed this. He said Greek houses typically receive a lot of traffic, and there is a chance that someone may recognize the stolen items.

Sigma Nu has already ruled out the possibility that the perpetrators are from within the fraternity. There are no other leads, but Palgen said he has high hopes their items will be returned.

Police ask anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at 217-373-8477 or the Urbana Police Department at 217-384-2320.