MONTEREY, Calif. (AP) — Dennis the Menace has been found.

A statue of the comic strip character that was stolen from a park in Monterey, California, last summer was found submerged in a nearby lake.

"Today is a happy day!" Monterey County Sheriff Tina Nieto said Wednesday at a press conference where the statue was wheeled in on a handcart.

The sheriff's dive team found the 3-foot-tall (1 meter) statue in Roberts Lake after Monterey city police received an anonymous tip about its location.

Dennis the Menace has a big but oddly troubled local connection. His creator, Hank Ketcham, was a longtime...