DALLAS — A pair of ruby ​​slippers worn by Judy Garland in the movie “The Wizard of Oz” is up for auction almost two decades after a thief stole the iconic shoes, believing they were studded with real jewels.

Heritage Auctions in Dallas announced in a news release Monday that online bidding has begun and will continue through Dec. 7.

The auction house acquired the dazzling sequined and beaded slippers from memorabilia collector Michael Shaw, the original owner of the shoes at the heart of the hit 1939 musical. Shaw loaned the shoes to the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, in 2005.

That summer someone smashed the display window and stole the slippers. Until then, their whereabouts remained a mystery. FBI rescued them in 2018.

Now the museum is among those competing for the slippers, one of several pairs Garland wore during filming. Only four left.

grand rapids raised money annual for slippers Judy Garland festival. The funding will supplement the $100,000 Minnesota lawmakers set aside this year to purchase slippers.

Terry Jon Martin, who stole the slippers, was 76 years old. He was sentenced to prison in January due to his poor health. He admitted to using a hammer to break the museum’s door and display glass in an attempt to score “one last point,” his lawyer said, after a former colleague with ties to the mafia told him the shoes needed to be decorated. With real jewels to justify its $1 million insured value.

The auction of movie memorabilia also includes other items from “The Wizard of Oz,” such as the hat worn by Margaret Hamilton’s Wicked Witch of the West and the screen door of Dorothy’s Kansas home.