No fewer than some hundred such curse tablets have been excavated from the spring of Sulis Minerva at Bath alone: someone who has typically lost a cloak at the baths will dedicate it to the goddess so that simple theft now becomes sacrilege.
— Greek and Roman Folklore: A Handbook by Graham Anderson.
This passage really leaped out at me for two reasons: firstly, in the context of a society where deities are considered real and fully capable of fucking up your life, this is both an incredibly obvious yet ingenious way to get back at someone for nicking your stuff.
But, and here's the kicker: votives and dedications were believed to literally be the god's property. So Minerva/Athena is being absolutely inundated with people's stolen or lost cloaks. Where are the cloaks? All over the place. She's lost track of most of them. But they're Hers Now. that dude called Theophrastus is just holding it temporarily until she can be bothered to get it back. It's kind of ugly though so she might just let him keep it. That purple cloak dedicated to her last week, on the other hand? That one's nice. She's definitely going to go get it. Might even fuck up the person who stole it a bit, as a thank-you to the dedicator.