A tourist who stole stones from the ancient site of Pompeii has returned them after blaming the famous ‘curse’ for her breast cancer.

The city of Pompeii was famously buried during the 79 CE eruption of nearby Mount Vesuvius. Buildings, objects and people were all exquisitely preserved, capturing a moment in history like no other.

The site is open for tourists to visit, treading the same streets as those who perished and contemplating their terrifying final moments.

But for some, that isn’t enough. Over the years, an unknowable number of artefacts have been stolen from the ruins, from pebbles and rocks, to tiles and pottery. 

It seems, however, that those who are not caught in the act still suffer a very special form of punishment. A curse.

Over the years, many who believe they have been struck by the jinx have returned the items with an apologetic note – so many in fact, there is an entire museum dedicated to those pieces.

Most recently, one woman sent back a handful of pumice stones with a typically apologetic note.

‘I didn’t know about the curse,’ they wrote. ‘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 letter, written in English, was signed ‘Mi dispiace’, meaning ‘I’m sorry’.

It was posted on X by Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the archaeological park in Pompeii. Sharing the image, he said: ‘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.’

‘In bocca al lupo’ means good luck in Italian.

In 2020, a Canadian woman who gave her name only as Nicole returned a selection of pilfered items including tiles and part of an amphora – a large, ceramic vessel – after twice suffering breast cancer.

Her letter explained she had taken the artefacts to have a memento ‘nobody could have’, but said the relics had ‘so much negative energy… linked to that land of destruction’.

‘Please, take them back,’ she wrote. ‘They bring bad luck.’

Of course, there is no such thing as curses, but that does not mean tourists should continue stealing priceless pieces of history from important sites – because the damage can never be undone, even if the culprit is struck by conscience (or curse).

In most cases there is no information regarding where exactly they were taken from, meaning their place in history is lost forever. 

MORE : It wasn’t just hot ash and toxic air – Pompeii victims had to deal with earthquakes too

MORE : When Vesuvius erupted in 79CE, the first blast was so hot it turned victims’ brains to glass

MORE : Herculaneum scroll buried in Vesuvius eruption is read for first time in 2,000 years

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