Do not steal anything from Pompeii

People have been returning rocks taken from the Petrified Forest and other protected sites in the US Southwest for years, hoping to end a run of bad luck. Some letters are on display at the site, and many have been collected into a book (and website).

https://www.npca.org/articles/332-bad-luck-hot-rocks

http://badluckhotrocks.com/

So maybe it is just human nature, not exclusively Italian.

Same thing for returning lava rocks to Hawai'i to appease Madame Pele. Maybe all of us need to remember to "take only photographs, leave only footprints."

^^^ Indeed. I suppose if they had a stroke of "good luck" afterwards they'd attribute it to the return of items stolen.

If these made-up cruses prevent thefts in any way big or small it's a win-win in my book.

Yikes...a case of the Monday's:)

If someone could come up with a curse to let Iceland(I always root for the underdog) beat England in today's Euro 2106 match that would be great!

Same with Hawaiian volcanic rocks. I have heard stories about Big Island volcanic rocks being mailed to the post office at Volcano, HI.

http://www.snopes.com/luck/pele.asp

Claim: Tourists who have taken rocks from Hawaiian beaches have
returned them in hopes of ending streaks of bad luck.

TRUE

Hawaiian legend: anyone that removes a piece of rock from the Hawaiian
Volcanoes National Park will incur the wrath of the Godess Pele.
Supposedly terrible curses follow those that do prompting them to soon
abandon the rock(s) in interest of self-preservation.

Legend has it that Pele, goddess of fire and volcanoes, is so angered when the rocks (which she sees as her children) are
taken from her that she exacts a terrible revenge on the thief. She is
especially protective of volcanic rock and sand, two items tourists
almost unthinkingly pocket as mementos of their vacations. After all,
who would miss a rock?

Pele, apparently. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and far too many
hotels to name receive a never-ending stream of packages containing
sand, shells, and rocks from guilty-minded vacationers who are intent
upon reversing their sudden downpours of bad luck. Many of these
returns are accompanied by notes begging forgiveness of the goddess or
detailing litanies of calamities that have befallen these casual
purloiners....

Easy there ... A little magical "thinking" makes the whole world culturally more interesting. Magic is often used in art, movies, religion, legends, etc.. I appreciate a dose of it now and then, provided it is harmless or even helpful.

A worst offense is painting the rocks. Art viewed from one person's eyes is graffiti in the National Park Service's eyes.

http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2016/06/crater_lake_tagger_pleads_guil.html

A woman who pleaded guilty to defacing seven national parks, including
Crater Lake in southern Oregon, has been banned from lands
administered by the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service,
the Bureau of Land Management, and the Army Corps of Engineers,
effectively barring her from setting foot on 20 percent of the
country.

Over the course of 26 days in September and October 2014, Casey
Nocket, a 23-year-old San Diego Resident, painted or drew on rock
formations in national parks in Colorado, California, Utah and Oregon
using markers and acrylic paint, the Department of Justice said in a
press release.

People return other things as well but sometimes because their better natures won out:

http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2016/06/08/Young-national-park-visitor-returns-pine-cone-with-apology-note/5281465389976/

Bless their 'lil heart. But speaking for the National Parks in the U.S., vandalism and theft of artifacts is a very big problem. I'm in favor of a pox on such varmints.

If someone could come up with a curse to let Iceland (I always root for the underdog) beat England in today's Euro 2106 match that would be great!

Good news, Michael, I just returned a box of rocks I had stolen from Easter Island for you.

England humiliated as Iceland knock them out of Euro 2016

First Brexit, now this. Tough week for the limies.

It all started with Greg Brady and his tiki doll...

In the post Brexit daylight I see a connection here ...
Perhaps England's bad luck in big football tournaments is a direct result of them holding The Rock, and will only end once Gibraltar is returned to Spain.

From the Daily Mail: "THE ULTIMATE HUMILIATION: England dumped out of Euro 2016 by minnows Iceland in one of the biggest tournament shocks ever"

Iceland is the future for Britain. I mean who needs France, Germany and Italy, when you have Iceland.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-uk-eu-referendum-latest-iceland-norway-greenland-faroe-islands-a7105641.html

It all started with Greg Brady and his tiki doll...

Too funny!

Sorry for the Petrified Forest. Believing in supernatural is a strong feature of Neapolitan culture - most Neapolitans believe in unlucky persons (iettatori), in persons able to divine future outcomes of the state lottery (assistiti), using images from dreams associated to lottery numbers (smorfia). Not to talk about St. Gennaro, of course. When challenged if they really believe in iettatori and assistiti, Neapolitans usually reply with a shrug and a "non è vero ma ci credo" (it is not true, but I still believe in it).