Rome is one of the most visited cities in the world, since it has historical monuments such as the Colosseum and even the Vatican inside. A tourist was so delighted with what he saw that decided to take home an ancient item, of one of the historical sites. However, the fragment of Roman marble was returned and the woman apologized for his action.

The employees of the National Roman Museum were surprised when they received a large package. The delivery was posted in Atlanta in the United States and inside the package was a piece of marble. In addition, the return also contained a letter written in English.

Regret and Return of a Historic Item

According to The Guardian, it was a woman named Jess, who was seeking forgiveness, "for being a dumb American person." Also according to the paper, the girl wrote the following in her message, "I feel terrible not only for stealing this item from its rightful place, but for putting something written on it."

From the text it is possible to assume that Jess was young when he committed the offense, but that as an adult he realized his mistake and then tried to make amends. The director of the Roman National Museum, Stépahen Verger, tried to explain the situation.

"In 2017, she must have come to Rome and taken this marble fragment as a gift for her boyfriend," he told Mail Online. "The fact is that three years after the theft, she returned it - it's a very important symbolic gesture," Verger commented, this time in an interview with The Guardian.

Arch of Constantine and the Colosseum in the background (Image by Julius Silver from Pixabay)

Pompeii also had artifacts stolen

In a short time, it was the second case of artifacts stolen and returned in Italy. A Canadian woman returned artifacts taken from Pompeii, a city that was devastated by a volcanic eruption in 79 A.D. In this case, the woman named Nicole sent fragments of amphorae and mosaics stolen 15 years ago.

Pompeii has been looted for some time, many relics have disappeared, but others are being returned along with letters expressing guilt for the crime committed, so a museum has been set up just to show these letters, which may serve as a warning to those thinking of stealing some historical item.

Mystery behind the Roman marble fragment

The stone taken by Jess was of little value and the message she wrote cannot be removed. It was written with a black pen, which now cannot be erased.

Probably the Roman marble fragment was taken from the Forum, which was fundamental for the life in the city and in the Republic at least since 500 B.C. In this environment speeches were made and the most important decisions were taken.

It may never be possible to find out where the stone was actually stolen from. Furthermore, it is an action that raises questions about the safety of the site, since no one knew the relic had been taken.