The bit of stone, small enough to fit into a pocket, arrived in a courier package from the United States. The anonymous¹ souvenir hunters sent a letter with it explaining they'd chipped off the piece on a visit to Rome 25 years ago.

The note said, "Every time I looked at my souvenir collection and came across that piece it made me feel guilty".

It went on: "Over the years I started thinking that if all the visitors to that beautiful monument took a piece away with them, nothing would be left standing²". The note added "It was a selfish and superficial act".

Rome's archaeological officials have accepted the apology saying the episode proved that "Rome and its monuments are the dream of all the world's tourists". The city has extended an invitation to the couple to come back to Rome.

It's not the first time bits of the city’s ancient heritage have proved tempting³ for tourists to relocate.

Last August a German visitor was caught trying to sneak⁴ out a nine kilogram rock from the Roman Forum⁵ in her backpack, whilst in 2006 another German tourist was caught at one of the city's airports with a piece of Roman column in his bag.