By IBRAHIM GRAY

The 2018 Red Sox division title banner went missing for about 48 hours last week, before it could even be hoisted at Fenway.

A 44-year-old Malden man, Louie Iacuzzi, says he found the precious banner on McGrath Highway in Somerville Monday. At first, he suggested he wanted something in return, but brought it to Fenway Park Wednesday afternoon when the story started to get a little suspicious.

The Sox confirmed shortly before 4 p.m. that the banner was in their possession. A team spokeswoman said the people who returned it received nothing in exchange.

The CEO of the company Flagraphs (who manufactured the banner), Tony Lafuente wasn’t sure if the original banner “fell off the truck or if it walked off the truck … I’ve been doing work for the Boston Red Sox since 1992. Nothing ever happened like this.”

Later in the interview, Lafuente said flatly that “these guys stole my banner” and “should be ashamed of themselves. This is not Boston.” He did, however, concede that his drivers sometimes use McGrath Highway during normal business hours.

Iacuzzi described himself as a good Samaritan, claiming that he and his friend did the right thing in stopping to recover the banner, because if otherwise it may have been ran over by on coming cars.