A Canadian tourist has returned artifacts stolen from the ancient site of Pompeii claiming they were “bad luck.”
The 36-year-old woman, who was only identified as Nicole, sent a package of the relics and a note confessing to taking them to a local travel agent in Campania, Italy, the Telegraph reported.
“Take them back, please, they bring bad luck,” the woman wrote of the two mosaic pieces, a piece of ceramic and two parts of an ancient jar known as an amphora.
She said that she had snatched the artifacts in 2005 while on a trip to the tourist destination, which was preserved in part as a result of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius more than 2,000 years ago.
“I was young and stupid, and I wanted to have a piece of history that nobody had,” she wrote.
But she said after she brought the mementos home to Canada, she was struck by a series of tragic events.
She said she believes that she “stole a piece of history that had lots of negative energy inside.”
“People there died in horrible ways. Bad luck played with me and my family,” the woman wrote, explaining that she has battled breast cancer twice.
She said that she plans to return to Italy so that she could apologize in person.
“We’re good people… I just want to shake this curse off me and my family,” she wrote. “Please take these artifacts back, so I can do the right thing and mend the mistake I’ve made.”
The owner of the travel agency which received the artifacts turned them over to police, the outlet reported.
It’s unclear whether any charges will be filed against the tourist.