An estate agency advertising sign which blew away in New Jersey during the 2012 Superstorm Sandy has reportedly washed up on a French beach nearly 4,000 miles away.

The news was announced by the company, Diane Turton Realtors, which shared photos of the sign on social media.

It was found by Hannes Frank, 64, on Plage du Pin Sec near Bordeaux who said he had contacted the firm by email, explaining his unusual discovery.

The estate agency said it was able to work out the sign had been placed outside a home for sale in Brielle before it blew away six years ago and crossed the Atlantic Ocean.

Company spokesman Perry Beneduce, who received the email from Mr Frank, told The New York Times: "I initially thought this has to be a prank."


But at the time of the hurricane Mr Beneduce was the manager of the Diane Turton branch in Wall, New Jersey.

And the newly-located sign had the branch's phone number on it.

Image: The sign made a journey of almost 4,000 miles away. Pic: Diane Turton Realtors

"It was the only sign from that office that went missing," he said.

The Brielle property itself had not been damaged by the October 2012 storm and sold the following spring.

The house was bought by Doug Shaw, who said he never knew about the sign. He told News 12 Westchester: "So it went to France?…My God, that's crazy."

Diane Turton, who runs the estate agency and has been in the property business for 53 years, said: "I got an email from our relocation department, who got it from this person, Hannes, in Bordeaux.

"I thought, 'Is this a joke?'"

Ms Turton said she hoped to get the sign returned so she could frame it as a memento.

The realty company has sent Mr Frank some T-shirts in the hope he will agree to send the sign back to New Jersey.