Stone stolen from grave of Ian Curtis of Joy Division

6 August 2019, 19:36 | Updated: 6 August 2019, 19:41

It’s been reported that the late singer’s memorial stone has again been targeted by thieves.

One of the memorial stones from the grave of Ian Curtis of Joy Division has been stolen.

Cheshire Live reports that Macclesfield Cemetery were alerted to the fact that the top “mowing stone”, where flowers are placed, had been removed from the memorial to the late singer.

Luckily, the inscribed memorial kerbstone to the musician - who took his own life in 1980 aged 23 - has not been taken. The original memorial stone laid after Curtis’s cremation in 1980 was taken from the cemetery by an unknown person back in 2008, leading to a replacement being installed.

Joy Division Central alerted fans to the missing stone and noted that it was possible that an attempt to steal the inscription had again taken place:

Following the death of Curtis, the remaining members of Joy Division went on to form New Order.

A spokesperson for Macclesfield Cemetery told Cheshire Live: “A rare mowing stone has been taken or removed, we believe over the weekend.

"It is about a square foot with a hole for a floral tribute, it is purely there for aesthetics, there is no inscription on it.

"Somebody came today to report it stolen. We have since replaced the stone."

However, some fans have noted that the top stone had been missing for some time - as one fan commented, the top part of the memorial was not in place on the day after New Order headlined the Bluedot festival on 21 July at Jodrell Bank, only a couple of miles away from the cemetery.

In other Joy Division news, Factory Records are to release two deluxe box sets and hold an archival exhibition to mark 40 years since their inception later this year. Full story and pre-order links are here