Where real or personal property is sold on any execution or decree, by any officer authorized to make the sale, and the sale is made legally and in good faith, and the property did not belong to the person against whose estate the execution or decree was issued, by reason of which the purchaser has been deprived of the property, or been compelled to pay damages in lieu thereof to the owner, the purchaser, his executors or administrators, may sue the person against whom such execution or decree was issued, or the person legally representing him, in a civil action, and recover such sum as he may have paid for the property, with interest from the time of payment; but the property, if personal, must be present at the sale and actually delivered to the purchaser. (1807, c. 723, P.R.; R.C., c. 45, s. 27; Code, s. 468; Rev., s. 639; C.S., s. 685.)