For years a “curse” is said to follow tourists who “steal” as souvenirs from Pompeii, stones, ashes or even small antiquities.

Many of them eventually return the objects to the archaeological site managers and claim that since they took them their lives have gone from bad to worse.

An indicative testimony of a tourist who fell victim to the “Curse of Pompeii” is published by the Daily Mail.

Deb from Pennsylvania stole rocks from the archaeological site in 2011. She was finally forced to return them in 2020 because of the bad luck she believes they brought her: within 8 years she divorced her husband and developed stage 3 breast cancer.

The woman suspected that she might have fallen victim to the “curse” after watching a documentary with a collapsed doll.

Inside the envelope containing the stolen items, Deb also had a letter to the officials, in which she wrote that she was “sorry for taking the rocks and that she did not want to be disrespectful.”

At the age of five, her health began to improve while she underwent a double mastectomy alongside chemotherapy.

“Things have improved, I seem to be in good shape now. I’m on my way to five years without a problem, thank God,’ Deb told MailOnline.

Another victim of the “curse”

Deb’s case is very similar to that of another tourist who also stole pumice stones and returned the stolen goods earlier this month after she too developed breast cancer.

The woman sent back the three small stones with a note written in English. In it she stated that she “didn’t know about the curse” on Pompeii when she stole the rocks and asked those responsible to forgive her.

“Within a year, I got breast cancer. I am a young and healthy woman and the doctors said it was just bad luck. Please accept my apology and these pieces,” the tourist wrote, ending the letter with “Sorry” in Italian.