Vienna’s St Stephen’s Cathedral archivist Franz Zehetner was shocked to discover a human skull while opening a package addressed to his workplace, he told BBC News last week.
"It's not something you expect," Franz Zehetner admitted.
The skull had been mailed from a guilt-laden former visitor from northern Germany, according to the report. He had stolen the skull 60 years prior during a guided tour of the catacombs beneath the cathedral.
The catacombs under St Stephen’s Cathedral
Underneath the historic building is the resting place of approximately 11,000 people buried during the 18th Century.
The former visitor explained in a letter that, as he was growing older, he had begun feeling guilty about taking the skull and wanted to make things right before it was too late.
"After his clarification of the matter, it was touching that someone would wish to make amends for an act of youthful exuberance," Zehetner told the BBC. "Also that he had carefully preserved the skull over the years - even it was not according to the rules - instead of carelessly getting rid of it."
It is unclear how the man was able to transport the skull from Austria.