We report the transition to an active state of the nucleus in the Seyfert 1.9 galaxy NGC 2992 , discovered by means of new hard X–ray data .
While the 2–10 keV flux declined by a factor of \sim 20 from 1978 to 1994 , two recent BeppoSAX observations in 1997 and in 1998 caught the nuclear emission raising back to the same level of activity observed in 1978 .

In both BeppoSAX observations the X–ray spectrum of the source is well represented by a power law with spectral index \Gamma \simeq 1.7 , absorbed by a column density of N _ { H } \simeq 10 ^ { 22 } cm ^ { -2 } and characterized by a prominent iron K \alpha line .
While in the second BeppoSAX data set the line properties appear to be consistent with those expected from accretion disc models , in the first BeppoSAX data set the iron feature is rather peculiar .
The broadening is not significant and the line energy is E _ { K \alpha } = 6.62 \pm 0.07 keV , indicating emission from highly ionized iron .
The line has too high equivalent width ( \sim 700 eV ) to be produced by a hot scattering medium .
By comparing these data with data previously in the literature , we interpret the spectral and flux changes in terms of different phases of rebuilding an accretion disc .
The timescale for the disc rebuilding is estimated to range between 1 and 5 years .

The X–ray data are complemented with optical and near-infrared followup spectra taken 1.5 months after the discovery of the X–ray burst .
The spectra are characterized by prominent broad emission lines .
There is also evidence for hot dust emission in the H and K bands that , however , is probably still in the process of increasing .