Some members of a class that donated a Thomas Hart Benton painting to a Shawnee Mission school in the 1950s are wondering where the gift is being kept.

The district says it has the painting, called “Utah Highlands,” but it isn’t saying where. The district’s spokeswoman says the location is being kept secret for security reasons because the painting is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars

The students spent $750 to buy the painting in 1957. Its value was appraised a few years ago at $700,000.

The painting hung for years in the library of the school now called Shawnee Mission North. It hasn’t been seen publicly since 2008.

School administrators have worried about storing the painting for years as its value increased.

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Associated Press information from: The Kansas City Star