Lord of the Rings police plea prompts Tolkien jibes Published duration 30 January

image copyright North Yorkshire Police image caption One Facebook user responded to the police appeal saying: "Kudos to the burglar who did over Sauron's house"

Police were inundated with Lord of the Rings jokes after posting an appeal looking for the owner of a "precious" piece of jewellery.

North Yorkshire Police seemed unaware of the JRR Tolkien connection when they shared photos of the "distinctive silver ring" on Facebook.

Thousands of people soon responded with gifs and memes referencing the famous fantasy novel and film series.

The force replied: "We obviously need to brush up on our movie knowledge."

The ring, which features the Elven lettering seen in Peter Jackson's film trilogy, was found with property stolen from a house in York, last February.

Police shared a series of pictures on Facebook in the hope that someone would recognise the markings:

Facebook users responded telling police they needed to follow in the footsteps of Frodo Baggins and destroy the ring.

"The ring was made in the fires of Mount Doom, only there can it be unmade," one Facebook user said.

"The ring must be taken deep into Mordor and cast back into the fiery chasm from whence it came. One of you must do this."

The force was also advised against getting too involved with the "precious" ring which "has a will of its own".

"It has been lost before and the last time, it turned into a continent spanning ball ache," one poster joked.

image copyright New Line Cinema image caption In Tolkien's story, Frodo Baggins (left) goes on a quest to destroy the ring in the fires of Mount Doom

The post was shared 20,000 times and received 16,000 comments including the obligatory "one does not simply walk into Mordor" memes.

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"We've had a lot of laughs thanks to our quick-witted Facebook followers," a (North York)Shire Police spokeswoman said.

"But on a serious note, we would really like to reunite the ring with its rightful owner and hope the exposure the post has received will help us do this."