How did an antique Shropshire fork end up in a Baltic archipelago?

One of the group, Robert Vickström, pictured with the fork in 2007

A group of 10 friends have travelled to Shrewsbury in search of information about an antique fork that turned up on the Baltic archipelago where they grew up.

Anton Nilsson said nothing was known about the large toasting fork, which has Shrewsbury engraved on the side.

They bought it as a joke in 2007 from an antiques dealer on the Aland Islands, between Sweden and Finland.

The group hope to find out more about where it came from in the town.

"We were teenagers and we just had this habit of giving each other bizarre, random gifts," Mr Nilsson said.

"The item we decided to buy was this abnormally large fork."

Mr Nilsson said the group had no idea of its origin, but said the person who sold it them had suggested it "came from hell".

"He based that theory on the fact the guy he bought it from was, and I quote, 'quite the devil'.

"We had no idea what it was supposed to be used for," Mr Nilsson added. However, the group now believes it to be a toasting fork, but they have never used it for that purpose.

• Listen: A Swedish Shropshire mystery

The group grew up on the Aland Islands but now live more spread out, including in Helsinki, Brussels, Geneva and Birmingham.

The fork had to be packed in hold luggage ahead of its journey to Shropshire

The fork remained on the islands and was taken by one of the group to Shrewsbury, although Mr Nilsson said that had taken some planning.

"It is big and sharp so you obviously can't take it in your hand luggage," he said.

He said he hoped the group would be able to meet locals who could tell them more about the fork.

"We heard rumours people had similar forks," he said, adding they were "very keen" to see them.