RACINE - In a plastic container on the top shelf of her closet, a local woman had been keeping a priceless piece of history handed down to her through her family.

But several days ago the 45-year-old woman realized that someone had come into her home and stolen the military identification card the War Department issued to Gen. George S. Patton Jr. in 1941.

Racine police said the woman reported the theft earlier this week. She told officers that Patton's military ID had been a family heirloom, passed down to her about two years ago. Reports say that she had recently been contacting auction houses to determine the value of the ID, however she never gave out her address.

Police said the woman and her two grown children went out of town on August 18 and returned one day later. She told officers she is almost positive the ID was still there when they came home.

Two days later, however, the woman came home from work and noticed a few things out of place in her apartment. She went to the closet where she had kept the ID and found it gone.

There was no forced entry into the home.

Racine Police Department spokesman Sgt. Mike Polzin said an evidence technician was sent to the woman's home. Currently, the case has been forwarded to an investigator for follow-up.

While no appraisal has been given for the stolen ID card, according to the police reports letters of Patton's have been sold for as much as $20,000, and the ID would probably be worth much more.

Patton is considered one of the greatest military figures in history, remembered for his fierce determination and ability to lead soldiers.

Nicknamed, "Old Blood and Guts," Patton was known for carrying pistols with ivory handles and regarded as one of the most successful U.S. field commanders of any war.

During World War I, then a captain, Patton commanded the United States Tank Corps and led his men to victory in the world's first major tank battle in France in 1917.

In 1940, he convinced Congress that the U.S. needed a more powerful armored striking force. One year later, he was named commanding general of the Second Armored Division at Fort Benning, Ga. He appeared on the cover of Life Magazine and began giving his famous "Blood and Guts" speeches.

When the U.S. officially entered World War II, Patton led successful invasions in North Africa and Sicily. In 1944 he was given command of the Third Army and his troops battled in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia. When they liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp, he instituted a policy of making local German civilians tour the camps.

By the time World War II was over, the Third Army had liberated or conquered 81,522 square miles of territory.

Patton died in 1945 after an automobile accident. He is buried with the soldiers who died in the Battle of the Bulge in Hamm, Luxembourg.