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Canadian woman returns artefacts saying they brought 'bad luck'

Canadian woman returns artefacts saying they brought 'bad luck'

Pompeii archeological site

A Canadian tourist who stole mosaic tiles, parts of an amphora and a ceramics piece from the city of Pompeii 15 years ago, returned them saying they brought "bad luck".

The woman, identified as Nicole sent a package containing the artefacts to a travel agent in the southern Italian city of Pompeii, along with a confession letter.

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She wrote that she was in her early 20s when she visited the city's archaeological park in 2005 and the robbery caused a number of misfortunes to her that includes getting breast cancer twice and being hit by a financial crisis.

"The last time ending in a double mastectomy. My family and I also had financial problems. We’re good people and I don’t want to pass this curse on to my family or children."

"Please, take them back, they bring bad luck," she said as she sought "forgiveness from God".

She said she committed the theft as she wanted to possess a piece of history that "nobody could have", but the artefacts had "so much negative energy … linked to that land of destruction".

Pompeii was covered in volcanic ash after the gigantic eruption of the Mount Vesuvius in AD79. It was buried until it was rediscovered in the 16th century, which led to an understanding of how life used to be in ancient times.