A thief has returned a mobile phone and thousands of yuan he stole from a woman after receiving 21 emotional text messages from her, a local newspaper reported.

Pan Aiying, a Chinese teacher at Wutou Middle School in Qihe County, in east China's Shandong Province, did not think her text-message campaign would move the thief to return her belongings.

A young man riding a motorcycle had snatched her bag, which contained her mobile phone, bank cards and 4,900 yuan ($628), as she was riding her bicycle home on Friday morning, according to Qilu Evening News.

Pan said she initially considered calling the police, but then decided to try to persuade the young man to return her bag.

Pan called her lost phone with her colleague's cell phone, but was disconnected. So she began sending text messages.

"Hey, buddy. I'm Pan Aiying, a teacher from Wutou Middle School. You must be going through a difficult time. If so, I will not blame you," wrote Pan in her first text message, which didn't get a response.

"Keep the 4,900 yuan if you really need it, but please return the other things to me. You are still young. To err is human. Correcting your mistake is more important than anything," Pan wrote in another message.

She gave up hope after sending 21 text messages without a reply and planned to call the police the next morning.

However, as she left her home on Sunday morning, Pan stumbled over a package that had been left in her courtyard. It was her stolen bag. Nothing had been taken from it.

"Dear Pan: I'm sorry. I made a mistake. Please forgive me. You are so tolerant even though I stole from you. I'll correct my ways and be an upright person," said a letter that had been left with the bag.

(Xinhua News Agency January 23, 2007)