American tourist who stole ancient Roman artifact returns it with a regretful note
01-December-2020

A few days back, the very famous National Roman Museum in Rome received a rather unusual package from a tourist from America. When the officials opened the package, they found a piece of rock inside. Well, that�s not all that was there, for there was a handwritten letter with a small message. The letter was written by the tourist who had expressed deep regret at stealing the tiny item from the museum.

The tourist from Atlanta US wrote, �Please forgive me for being such an American a--hole. I took something that was not mine to take�. The tiny piece of rock, as it might look, is not any regular rock but a piece of marble discovered from the ancient Roman ruins.

In the letter, the tourist asked the museum authorities for forgiveness. The sender also mentioned that they feel shameful for writing on the piece of marble. At the bottom of the returned rock, there�s a message that reads �To Sam. Love Jess. Rome, 2017.�

The letter further reads, �I spent hours trying to remove the writing, but without success.�

This entire act has surprised people. St�phane Verger, the director of the museum, told local media that it looks like a spontaneous gesture but the result of conscious reflection. Verger further said, �Maybe being cooped up by the coronavirus pandemic made her reflect a bit and jogged her conscience.�

The museum director also added that the gesture might have been inspired by a similar incident of stealing some �unauthorised� souvenirs, when two Canadian tourists accepted stealing an artifact from the ruins of Pompeii. Later, the Canadian tourists admitted that it caused a series of bad luck in their family.

This is not the first time that tourists have done such things. A number of incidents have been reported in the past from worldwide, wherein tourists have either stolen or vandalised prominent tourist attractions.