A German man recently returned a 200-year-old bible to a church in East Sussex, United Kingdom. The unidentified male reportedly stole the bible 42 years ago.

It's never too late to fix your mistakes.

A German man definitely thought so when he recently returned a 200-year-old bible to a church in Hastings, United Kingdom. The unidentified male reportedly stole the bible 42 years ago.

According to Simon Scott of the Holy Trinity Church, the man arrived in town in 1971 and took a course in English language. He completed the class, but wasn’t satisfied with what he learned.

He saw a bible sitting around the church unused, so he decided to swipe it. Scott stated “By some sort of compensation for this very poor, expensive course, he decided to take one and try and read it at home and improve his English that way.”

The mystery thief wrote a letter to the church explaining the theft. He claimed he didn’t have the courage to hand the bible back over in person but would mail it.

The male also noted that his wife was angry with him for stealing it and claimed he still had a guilty conscience. After mailing the letter, the man did in fact send the leather bound bible back to the church in good condition.