Someone has stolen Joy Division singer Ian Curtis's headstone from his Macclesfield gravesite. The morbid thief made off with the stone some time between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning. The local police are appealing for anyone with information on its whereabouts to come forward. Curtis's gravestone (click here for a photo) is inscribed "Ian Curtis, 18-5-80", along with the words "Love Will Tear Us Apart", the title of Joy Division's best-known song. The singer committed suicide in May 1980 at the age of 23, hanging himself in his kitchen on the eve of Joy Division's first U.S. tour.

The band's former drummer, speaking to NME, has pleaded with the thief to return the stone anonymously. "I'm speechless," Stephen Morris said. "It really is not a very nice thing at all... I just don't understand why anyone would do it. You couldn't sell it on eBay—it's ridiculous and very upsetting."