Mr Nobody Against Putin star Pavel Talankin has won an apology over his missing Oscar.

The former school teacher was honoured for his work on the documentary - which he also co-directed - at the glitzy ceremony in Los Angeles in March taking the prize for Best Documentary Feature, but his golden statuette was taken away from him TSA agents at an airport in New York who decided the trophy could be used as a "weapon" and wouldn't allow Talankin to take the item in his hand luggage on the Lufthansa flight to Germany.

The Oscar went missing and Mr Nobody Against Putin's other co-director David Borenstein appealed for its return. Now officials at Lufthansa have confirmed they've found the statuette and issued an apology to Talankin.

A statement from Lufthansa given to the BBC, explained: "The Oscar statue has now been located and is safely in our care in Frankfurt. [It will be returned to Talankin] as quickly as possible ...

"We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused and have apologised to the owner."

The statement went on to confirm an interview review is being launched into the incident, adding: "The careful and secure handling of our guests' belongings is of the utmost importance to us. An internal review of the circumstances is ongoing."

After the Oscar went missing, Borenstein took to Instagram in a bid to track down the statuette and make sure it was returned to Talankin.

In a post on Instagram, Borenstein explained: "An Oscar is missing. @lufthansa, we need your help with this. "Pavel Talankin is my co-director and the protagonist of Mr. Nobody Against Putin, which won the Academy Award this year.

"Yesterday he arrived at JFK [airport in New York] ready to fly home to Europe, carrying the Oscar as a carry-on. I snapped the first picture here [on Instagram] of him on his way out.

"At the airport, a TSA agent stopped him and said the Oscar could be used as a weapon. She wouldn't let him carry it on board. Our EP Robin [executive producer Robin Hessman] got on the phone and tried to reason with her. It didn't work.

"Pavel didn't have a bag to check it in, so the TSA put the Oscar in a box and sent it to the bottom of the plane. Pavel took a picture of their brilliant solution. "It never arrived in Frankfurt. Picture 3 is the lost baggage slip." Borenstein went on to add:

"I've looked and I can't find a single other case of someone being forced to check an Oscar. Would Pavel have been treated the same way if he were a famous actor? Or a fluent English speaker? @tsa

"@lufthansa, please help us find it. If you have any information at all, please DM us. And if anyone else has ever had to check an Oscar statuette, I'd love to know."

Borenstein later added a screenshot of a message from officials at Lufthansa confirming they are looking into the Oscar's disappearance.

The message read: "Oh no! An Oscar is missing - we hear you and we are here to help.

"Here's what happens next: we're taking this on. And we're taking it super serious. Our team is ready to track down the missing parcel and get it back to where it belongs. We're committed to making it happen.

"We will do everything we can to find the Oscar as fast as possible and have already escalated this ... "