Curators at the ancient site of Pompeii have been welcoming back hundreds of stolen artefacts which the thieves have decided to return, sometimes after decades.
The superintendent of the World Heritage site, Massimo Osanna, said: "We have been receiving hundreds of packages with hundreds of fragments now for years.
"People write expressing regret, having realised they have made a terrible mistake and that they would never do it again and for this reason they are sending the stolen pieces back.
"But the most curious thing, from an anthropological point of view, are the letters that accompany the stolen fragments which reveal a cross-section of people worth studying."
Mr Osanna told the Italian daily Il Messaggero that one particular fresco fragment that had been returned was crucial in the restoration of the Casa del Frutteto (House of the Orchard Keeper) which collapsed in the 1980s.
He said the property was restored but experts realised a piece of wall plaster was missing. Now it will be added.
The city was buried by the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in 79AD.
Every year, some 2.5 million people visit the open air site which is difficult to protect from those seeking a memento of their visit.
Not everyone gets away with stolen treasure. Last September two American tourists smuggling a stone artefact from Pompeii were caught at Rome’s airport.
