A deleted authoring tool object that is reintroduced to the database when recovered tool data is republished. For example, a tool initially publishes a document containing an object, but later deletes the object and republishes. The software then detects that the object is deleted. However, if the tool restores data that was backed up before the object was deleted, through a data restoration or other tool-specific mechanism, and republishes, then the software recognizes that the object was previously deleted but has been reintroduced (resurrected).