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This is not the first time such an incident has been reported.

A woman who stole some stones from the ancient city of Pompeii returned the artefacts after she stated that she was diagnosed with breast cancer. The tourist claimed that she did not know about the infamous “curse”, referencing a myth that stealing from the ancient site will bring bad luck. 

Archaeologist Gabriel Zuchtriegel took to X and shared a picture of the letter and pumice stones he received from her. The woman apologises for her actions and then goes on to explain her situation. “I didn’t know about the curse. I didn’t know that I should not take any rocks. Within a year, I got breast cancer. I am a young and healthy female and doctors said it was just ‘Bad Luck.’ Please accept my apology and these pieces,” the handwritten letter stated. It ended with “Mi dispiace” meaning “I’m sorry” in Italian. The currently in charge of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii said while sharing the letter, “Dear anonymous sender of this letter … the pumice stones arrived in Pompeii… now good luck for your future & in bocca al lupo, as we say in Italy.”

Dear anonymous sender of this letter … the pumice stones arrived in Pompeii… now good luck for your future & in bocca al lupo, as we say in Italy pic.twitter.com/vaYlqUudke

— Gabriel Zuchtriegel (@GZuchtriegel) January 9, 2024

However, this is not the first time such an incident has been reported. In 2020, a tourist returned some artefacts after she claimed that they were “cursed”. Nicole, from Canada, sent a package containing two mosaic tiles, parts of an amphora and a piece of ceramics to a travel agent in Pompeii along with a letter of confession, as per a CNN report.

“I wanted to have a piece of history that couldn’t be bought,” she said adding that she was “young and dumb” at the time. “I took a piece of history that has crystallized over time and that has a lot of negative energy in it. People have died in such a horrible way and I have taken pieces related to that land of destruction. Since then, bad luck has played with me and my family. We can’t ever seem to get ahead in life. I took a piece of history captured in a time with so much negative energy attached to it. People died in such a horrible way and I took tiles related to that kind of destruction,” she wrote. 

Nicole stated that she has suffered two bouts of breast cancer, resulting in a double mastectomy, and her family has also been in financial trouble.

The city of Pompeii and its residents were buried in volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. The remains are now considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site.