A self-described “awful person” stole a bottle of ketchup from an Ocean County eatery, but the guilt-ridden thief later returned to the scene of the crime and left two bottles of Heinz - and a note.

“A few weeks ago, I had taken one of your ketchup bottles off the table because for some odd reason I thought it’d be ‘risky,” the note left at the Perkins Restaurant & Bakery in Lacey says.

It went on, the note writer described, that someone crashed into their car, leading them to fear bad karma brought on by the pocketing of the ketchup bottle.

“I hope returning two new bottles will restore some [luck] for me, and I can stop carrying around this guilt. Again, I am really sorry if I inconvenienced you the same way my life has been inconveniencing me,” read the note, which was shared on social media.

To the person that returned this. You are forgiven. Hope all goes better for you lesson learned. Posted by Maria DiLeo on Thursday, August 1, 2019

Charlene Reebe, the restaurant manager, said she found the note in a bag last Wednesday night while cleaning up, according to the New York Post.

“And I open it up, and there’s a letter, receipt and two bottles of ketchup in there,” Reebe told the Post. The receipt showed the 32-ounce ketchup bottles cost $2.78 each, and were bought locally.

Restaurant owner Maria DiLeo posted the note on a Lacey community Facebook page, with the message: “To the person that returned this. You are forgiven. Hope all goes better for you lesson learned.”

DiLeo, who suspects the thief is a young woman, said she’d offer her a job. “I would hire her in a second,’’ DiLeo told the Post. “Because if you do something like that, you’re not an awful person. You’re an honest person.’’

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.com’s newsletters