More than 40 years ago, a piece of Redstone Arsenal history made its way from Alabama to the town green of Warren, N.H. Now, the town's leaders are hoping to raise money to restore the country's only municipally owned genuine Redstone ballistic missile.

The decommissioned Redstone missile was brought to Warren in 1971 by the late Henry "Ted" Asselin, who was stationed in Huntsville during his time in the Army. The missiles were produced by the Army's Ballistic Missile Agency at Redstone Arsenal under the direction of Wernher von Braun from 1952 until 1964 when they were replaced by the Pershing missile.

Asselin was serving at Redstone Arsenal, the Union Leader reports, when he asked about the surplus, 83-foot long Redstone rocket lying around the base and was told he could have one as long as there was no cost to the Army to move it.

He decided to transport it to his hometown of Warren, where it was taken to the center of the village green in honor of long-time U.S. Sen. Norris Cotton, who is also from the town.

It's stood there since that time, making Warren the only town in the U.S. to have one, according to Don Bagley, president of the Warren Historical Society.

"Back in the early 1980s, there was a group in town that thought it was a symbol of war and all that other stuff," Bagley said, adding some people thought the missile's presence would result in the town being targeted by the Soviet Union.

The decommissioned Redstone missile on the town green in Warren, N.H. (Contributed photo/Union Leader)

Later ideas included donating the missile so it could be transformed into a culvert or feeding trough for animals or giving it to the nearby town of Derry to honor astronaut Alan Shepard, who became the first American in space thanks to a Redstone launching rocket.

In the end, however, Bagley told the Union Herald, people in the town got together and decided to keep the missile in the town. Now, however, the missile is in dire need of a cosmetic overhaul.

"We were hoping to get it done in 2013 because the town was 250 years old, but the funding just didn't come together," Bagley told the Union Leader.

The Redstone has been painted three times and now needs another layer of the specialized two-part epoxy paint that covers its shell. The society also hopes to install a layer of reinforcing bricks around the missile's concrete base, which has begun to chip.

"We need to raise probably $6,000 to $7,000 more than what we've got to do the restoration work and the repainting of the missile," Bagley said, adding he hopes the work will be done in time for the town's Old Home Day celebration in July.

Tax deductible contributions are being accepted at Missile Fund, c/o Warren Historical Society 251 Pine Hill Road, Warren, NH, 03279.