A Montreal woman returned an ancient artifact to Italy, 50 years after taking it while on her honeymoon.

In 1964, a 21-year-old Lisa Carducci travelled to her ancestral homeland for the first time with her new husband.

"We visited Pompeii the first day we were there," she told CTV Montreal of her visit to see the stunning collection of artifacts preserved since Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, destroying towns and killing thousands, but leaving many building and bodies largely intact.

"There were about 100 of these figures, all the same, and some were missing," she said.

Carducci recalls spotting some of the missing terracotta clay masks on the ground, and deciding to put one in her purse.

At the time, she didn't think she was doing anything wrong and didn't even mention it to her husband. She just thought she was taking a souvenir from her ancestral homeland.

Carducci hung it on the wall at her Montreal home for decades and always told her children it was the most precious item in the house. But she was shocked when she asked her children who wanted the mask.

"They didn't want it because they knew it wasn't fair to have it at home and they wanted to get rid of it," Carducci said.

The thoughts of Carducci's children, combined with the time she spent living in China in the 1990s – a country that has had numerous artifacts stolen – made her more sensitive to the issue of stolen artifacts.

"I thought, I have something that doesn't belong to me. So I wanted to give it back to Italy," she said.

"I became sensitive to what I had done and wanted to give it back. But how to give it back?"

Carducci first hoped to return the artifact in 1999, and tried without success in 2001, when she took it from China to Pompeii and back, after failing to find the right person to give it to.

Finally, this year, she was able to make contact with the police chief in Naples and set up an appointment to return the mask. She travelled to Italy two weeks ago, and hand-delivered the mask to the police chief.

"I said, 'You won't put me in prison?' He said, 'No. What you have done 50 years ago is not so good, but what you have done today is much better," Carducci said about her conversation with the officer.

Carducci initially wanted to remain anonymous, but now hopes by telling her story she will inspire others who have taken artifacts to return them.

"It's a big international problem," Carducci said about taking artifacts. "I suggest to other people, first of all don't take things when travelling, and if they have, please bring them back."

With a report from CTV Montreal's Maya Johnson