Legendary Joy Division singer Ian Curtis’ gravestone has been stolen from the cemetery in which he is buried. The late Curtis, was buried in Macclesfield Cemetery in 1980.
Police say that the gravestone, which bears the inscriptions "Ian Curtis 18 - 5 - 80" and "Love Will Tear Us Apart", was stolen at sometime between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning.
As things stand, the police have no leads due to the lack of CCTV in the area, however, they are confident someone will come forward with information. A police spokesman said: “This is a very unusual theft and I am confident that someone locally will have knowledge about who is responsible or where the memorial stone is at present".
Tony Barker, spokesman for Macclesfield Borough Council said: "This has never happened before and we are agog that someone's gone to the trouble of taking it out. We are stunned". Bill North, the council's services manager, added: "I'm shocked this has happened. Someone's gone to a great deal of trouble to remove the memorial stone and I hope our appeal will help return it as soon as possible".
