WASHINGTON ~ Wall Street financier Bernard Madoff, accused of masterminding a massive investment fraud, has been handed an ethics lesson by thieves who stole a statue from his Florida mansion, and promptly returned it, according to local press.

Robbers who swiped a US$10,000 statue from Madoff’s estate near Palm Beach on December 22, dropped it off at a nearby country club where Madoff was a member, signing the return “The Educators.”

Hanging from the four-foot statue, which depicts two lifeguards sitting on a raised stand, was a note, reported the Palm Beach Post.

“Bernie the Swindler, Lesson: Return Stolen Property to rightful owners. Signed by – The Educators,” the note said.

The statue was not damaged and police are continuing their investigation of the robbery, said the daily.

Madoff, 70, is under house arrest in his Manhattan apartment on a $10-million bail.

He is so far the only person charged in an alleged $50-billion Ponzi, or pyramid scheme in which major banks, ultra-wealthy private investors, universities, charities and Jewish organizations were among the victims.