NEW YORK - Make no bones about it: this isn't a story you hear every day.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is giving up one of its prized possessions, the gold coffin of Nedjemankh, the Manhattan district attorney's office announced Wednesday.

The artifact, which contains the remains of the high-ranking priest, was returned to Egyptian officials after it was determined it had been sold to the museum illegally, the Manhattan DA's office said.

Back in February, his office seized the coffin from the museum.

"We New Yorkers place a strong value on cultural heritage and our office vigorously protects it. Returning rare treasures to its countries from which they were stolen is at the core of our mission to stop the trafficking of antiquities," said Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr.

Vance said the coffin, which was crafted in Egypt sometime between 150 and 50 B.C.E., was stolen from the Minya region of Egypt after the country's revolution in 2011, before it was smuggled to Germany, then France, and sold to the Met in July 2017.

Once it was made aware of the illegal smuggling, officials said, the museum fully cooperated with the investigation.

The coffin has an estimated value of about $4 million.

It was removed from public display last February. 

The Met has apologized to Egypt.