Woman returns Pompeii relic 50 years after stealing it

A Canadian woman who took a reilc from Pompeii as a souvenir while honeymooning in 1964 in Campania, Italy, has decided it's high time for it to be returned.

The relic was once part of a theater entrance in an open area, BBC News reports. The woman, who has not been publicly named, went back to Italy this month to return the artifact.

Captain Carmine Elefante, head of the police's Cultural Heritage Protection Group in Naples, told BBC News that the woman cried as she returned the relic. "This has no precedents, the fact that someone was pushed by the weight of their conscience to hand back what they had taken," Elefante said.

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The woman didn't get a fine for taking the relic, which is apparently in good condition. Police hope the story will encourage other people who "may have taken off with pieces of Pompeii" to return them as well, BBC News notes.