About 15 years ago, two unknown youths wandered into the City of David National Park in Israel, and left with a couple of ballista stones, part of an ancient weapon used 2,000 years ago.
Well, 15 years later, one of the thiefs felt that with the rise and spread of COVID-19, the end of the world is near, and wanted to make things right.
Through an intermediary, a man named Moshe Manies, the man returned the stone to its righful place. Manies relayed a message from the man, saying in the 15 years since he stole the stone, "he married and raised a family, and told me that for the past 15 years the stone is weighing heavily on his heart. And now, when he came across it while cleaning for Passover, together with the apocalyptic feeling the coronavirus generated, he felt the time was ripe to clear his conscience, and he asked me to help him return it to the Israel Antiquities Authority."
Manies met with Uzi Rotstein, an inspector in the IAA’s Theft Prevention Unit, for a quick hand-off of the artifact.
Rotstein commended the ballista stone's return, saying removing any artifact from its place "negatively impacts the research and the ability to piece together its historical puzzle. These artifacts, which are thousands of years old, are our national treasure. They tell the story of The Land and of who resided here before us, and should be documented and displayed."