Hunter S. Thompson's widow returns antlers he stole from Ernest Hemingway's house 52 years ago

Thompson had swiped the horns as a young journalist in 1964 - visiting Hemingway's cabin in Ketchum, Idaho

(Getty Images)

You know that phrase they always say? "Never steal antlers from your hero", or something?

Well, either way, it's clearly a lesson the King of Gonzo Journalism desperately needed to hear; after Hunter S. Thompson's widow, Anita Thompson, has now finally returned the prize elk antlers he once thieved from the home of Ernest Hemingway.

A young upstart journalist in 1964, the 27-year-old Thompson travelled to the quaint ski town of Ketchum, Idaho; notable as the location where Hemingway spent his final days, in the home he bought overlooking the Wood River, sent there on assignment to write about Hemingway for a weekly national newspaper called The National Observer.

And, as you do when visiting the dwelling of your literary hero, Thompson swiped a pair of prized elk horns which hung above the entrance to the cabin.

"He got caught up in the moment," Anita told Bro Bible about the incident. "He had so much respect for Hemingway. He was actually very embarrassed by it." Indeed, Thompson apparently told no one about the theft, keeping the horns fairly tucked away within his own property Owl Farm in Aspen, Colorado; hung in the garage above the red Chevy Impala convertible dubbed "The Red Shark", the very one referenced in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

"Hunter started thinking about it more when he realised his place in American literature and history," Anita continued. "He wrote that piece of paper that he stuck to the door [in Owl Farm] that’s still there that said, ‘Please don’t steal from this home, by the management.’ That certainly played a role in him wanting to return it. You can’t expect people to behave well in your own home if you have a piece of stolen art."

It was Anita herself who loaded the antlers into her car and made the 11-hour drive from Owl Farm, where she still resides, and Ketchum; she recalled how her husband had always intended to one day return the horns, "We planned to take a road trip and quietly return them, and not make a thing of it. Not even mention it, just return them. But we never did. We talked about a few times as a ‘wouldn’t it be neat if…’ thing because we assumed we would."

"It was fun to return them properly. It seemed like the right thing to do. I’m so glad I did it," she said of the endeavour.