SAN ANTONIO (AP) - A $5,000 reward is being offered for the return of a historic cannonball that belonged to Mexican Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana.

The priceless artifact was stolen Sunday night or Monday morning from a display case at the Fairmount Hotel in San Antonio, where it had been kept for 23 years.

The cannonball, from the Battle of the Alamo, has been dated to 1836 and linked to Santa Ana's army. Santa Ana was in charge of Mexican soldiers who stormed the Alamo on March 6, 1836.

The hotel owner, Robert D. Tips, is offering the reward.

"Right now I will pay this reward with no questions asked," Tips said. "There's gonna be someone else out there who knows where this thing is."

Tips and his associates have been looking for the softball-size cannonball on online auction Web sites but have not had any luck locating it.

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Information from:

San Antonio Express-News: www.mysanantonio.com

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AP-WS-12-25-08 1612EST