Little did they know that the carving depicting Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper" was less than a block away, in a side room of First German Evangelical Lutheran Church.

"There is no question in my mind that this is the carving," said Nordengren, of Port Washington. "It's amazing."

Nordengren and Haering, of northern California, had only a picture of the carving, with the name of their great-uncle, F. Anton Haring, and "Manitowoc, Wis." under the picture.

Nordengren and Haering weren't sure if the carving existed anymore, but they thought Manitowoc would be a good place to start searching for the piece.

The cousins contacted the Herald Times Reporter, which ran a copy of their photo and an article on July 20. Nordengren received a phone call later that day from someone claiming to have seen the carving at First German Evangelical Church.

Nordengren made a second trip to Manitowoc on Thursday.

"It's absolutely beautiful," Nordengren said about the piece. "We're absolutely thrilled."

David Lindemann, a parishioner at First German, said his father donated the carving to the church in the early to mid-1960s. The carving was purchased for $5 by Lindemann's grandfather during a going-out-of-business sale when Manitowoc Seat Co. closed.

The cousins weren't interested in acquiring the carving, which is valued at approximately $30,000. Nordengren and Haering just wanted to see the piece in person.

The carving measures 90 inches long and 29 inches from the base to the tallest point, according to Pastor David Rosenow.

Rosenow said he's not certain the piece was carved by Nordengren and Haering's great-uncle.

There's no marking on the wooden piece indicating who carved the piece. A history book of First German from the mid-1950s claims Alois Lang carved the piece. The work matches other carvings of "The Last Supper" crafted by Lang.

Rosenow suggests maybe the Lang and Haering worked together, using a template for carvings.