A drunk man climbed into a Vienna museum, stole possibly the world's most valuable sculpture on an impulse, and kept it hidden for nearly three years, police say. Their revelation today came after the famous Saliera by Benvenuto Cellini, worth $A81.13 million, was sensationally found buried in a snow-covered wood in northern Austria.

Investigators had scoured the world for the statue since it disappeared in May 2003.

The slightly damaged statue was returned to the museum in Vienna.

Head of Vienna's criminal police Ernst Geiger said the suspect, a 50-year-old man, was arrested on Friday.

He turned himself in when investigators published a photo of him.