The totem pole was noticed missing last week. The Rotary Club of West Seattle donated the pole to the city in 1976 and estimates it would have cost about $75,000 to replace.
At the request of Seattle investigators, authorities in Oregon went to an address provided by the 69-year-old man and found the pole on a boat trailer in a Salem-area parking lot.
Seattle police spokesman Mark Jamieson says the pole appears to be undamaged, and detectives are putting together a case to send to the prosecutor's office.