People have been returning stolen items to Pompeii
A woman has attributed a spell of bad luck to the ‘curse’ of stones that she took during a visit to Pompeii. The tourist has mailed the purloined pumice stones back to their original home after blaming the ill-gotten items for causing her cancer. The director of Pompeii, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, published her note, written in English, on social media. In it, the unnamed woman states: “I didn’t know about the curse. I didn’t know that I should not take any rocks. Within a year, I got a breast cancer. I am a young and healthy female, and doctors said it was just ‘bad luck’. Please accept my apology and these pieces. Mi dispiace.” Zuchtriegel sent his good wishes to the unfortunate tourist via X (formerly Twitter), to let her know the stones had arrived and to wish her luck for the future. It’s not the first time that stolen artefacts have been returned to the site – in fact, Pompeii even has a special display for such pieces, alongside the letters that accompanied their return, many of which cite misfortunes that have befallen the looters and their families since taking home its relics.