Ian Curtis horror

The Joy Division icon’s memorial stone has been stolen

03 July 2008 - The gravestone of Joy Division's Ian Curtis, who was found hanged in 1980 aged 23, has been stolen.

The memorial stone was discovered missing from where the singer is buried in Macclesfield Cemetery at 9.25am on 1 July.

It had been there at approximately lunch time on 30 June.

Tony Barker, the Public Relations Officer for Macclesfield Borough Council in Cheshire, described the gravestone as, “the most famous memorial curbstone in Macclesfield cemetery, of all its 68 acres.”

Barker described the stolen article as a 30 centimeter wide memorial with Ian Curtis engraved on it, the date of his death - 18/05/1980, and the wording Love Will Tear Us Apart.

“It is the most visited memorial curbstone. It has been visited by people from all four corners of the world,” Barker explained, regarding the impact the gravestone has had, continuing; “given that Control the film was released last year and has had a huge amount of publicity, it seems Ian Curtis is even more of a man of folk law than fans would have realised.”

The missing gravestone has rested in that spot for 28 years and Barker, like the rest of us, was shocked at the news.

He told 6 Music: “It seems so galling, so tragic that someone has robbed an opportunity for true music fans to come and pay their tributes right now, because we are now searching for the missing curbstone, rather than paying tribute to the one that has been there for several years paying tribute to Ian Curtis.”

"It would have taken a great deal of effort to lever this out possibly using a crow bar or something to lever it out from its position."

And he went on to explain that it would have been, by no means an easy feet, to remove it from the Joy Division frontman’s resting place.

“It would have taken a great deal of effort to lever this out possibly using a crow bar or something to lever it out from its position,” said Barker, “a vehicle could have gone down the service road and be used for a quick immediate getaway but – how shocking this is.”

Curtis’ family were made aware of the news and were keen to make it public in the hope that the precious item will be recovered.

Barker said: “Debbie, when we told her, was naturally devastated. I think that family was fresh back from holiday so obviously it was the last thing they wanted to hear which is why she said to us do try and generate as much publicity to music lovers everywhere. If you know something, please tell the Cheshire police.”

Inspector Gareth Woods, of the Macclesfield Neighbourhood Policing Unit, told 6 Music: "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.

"I would appeal for anyone with such information to contact Cheshire Constabulary on 0845 458 0000 or alternatively anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111."

Georgie Rogers