The skull of "Nosferatu" director F.W. Murnau has reportedly been stolen from his gravesite in Germany, and cemetery keepers think Satanists may be to blame.
"There was a candle" left at the damaged gravesite on Monday, said Olaf Ihlefeldt, manager of the Stahnsdorf South-Western Cemetery outside Berlin.
"It’s an absolute scandal here,"
he told The Washington Post, adding that the famous grave "was a really special, special thing there. It was really important for us."
Murnau died long ago in a 1931 car accident in California. He was 42. A native of Germany, his body was returned there for interment.
It's not clear whether the grave robbers were specifically targeting Murnau, but they did damage his iron coffin in their latest heist. It's not the first time his grave has been targeted, however — the earliest break-in was staged in the 1970s.
The Germany cemetery is a famous one and, because of that, is somewhat of a target-rich environment for thieves.
"Southwesterly Stahnsdorf belongs beside Venice Toteninsel San Michele, Vienna’s Central Cemetery and Père Lachaise in Paris [as] undoubtedly one of the grand hotels of international cemeteries," the cemetery website reads. "The Südwestkirchhof is a place of superlatives: the largest forest cemetery, the most important monuments of funeral art, the final resting place of outstanding personalities."
In addition to directing "Nosferatu" in 1922, Murnau also directed 1927's "Sunrise," which won multiple Oscars at the first-ever Academy Awards ceremony in 1929,
The Guardian U.K. reported.
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