A Canadian woman has returned five artifacts which she had stolen from Pompeii in 2005.
Nicole wrote a letter, explaining that she believes she has been cursed after stealing the artifacts.
In the past 15 years, she has had two bouts of breast cancer, a double mastectomy, and financial trouble.
According to a spokesperson for the archeological site, Nicole is not the first person to return stolen artifacts from Pompeii.
Source: CNN
Ever since she returned to Canada, she has felt cursed.
In 2005, Nicole had stolen several artifacts from Pompeii, keeping them as souvenirs. Unfortunately, she found that for the past 15 years, she has felt deeply cursed. As a result, she decided to return the stolen pieces and send a letter to the Archaeological Park of Pompeii. CNN writes that she had sent ‘two white mosaic tiles, two pieces of amphora vase and a piece of ceramic wall’. In her note, she explained that she had been ‘young and dumb’ at the time and went on to share her beliefs about the artifacts.
I wanted to have a piece of history that couldn’t be bought […] 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 went further as she explained what she endured in the past 15 years.
Since 2005, Nicole has suffered two bouts of breast cancer and has had a double mastectomy as a result. In addition to this, her family has faced financial trouble ever since her return from Pompeii. In her letter, she blamed these unfortunate events on the tiles she stole as she reportedly wrote:
We can’t ever seem to get ahead in life […] We are good people and I don’t want to pass this curse on to my family, my children or myself anymore. For this forgive me for the gesture made years ago, I learned my lesson. I just want to shake off the curse that has fallen on me and my family. Please accept these artifacts so that you do the right thing for the mistake I made. I am so sorry, one day I will return to your beautiful country to apologize in person.
Nicole is one of around a hundred visitors who have returned stolen artifacts.
People reported that according to a spokeswoman for the park, Nicole is not the first person to claim that stolen artifacts have brought them bad luck. Around a hundred other visitors have done the same thing as Nicole as they have returned rocks and tiles after suffering ‘a series of misfortunes’. Now, the Pompeii Antiquarium houses a selection of letters and returned artifacts. While the artifacts themselves are not of significant value, the spokeswoman noted that the letters were interesting from an anthropological perspective.
