This is the kind of thing that seriously makes my skin crawl.

Per BBC news:

Curtis was 23 when he hanged himself in the kitchen of his Macclesfield home in May 1980, shortly before the band were due to go on tour in the US.

Cheshire Police said his memorial stone was taken from where he is buried in Macclesfield Cemetery.

Officers are appealing for anyone with information on its whereabouts to contact them.

Detectives said the stone, which has the inscription “Ian Curtis 18 - 5 - 80″ and the words “Love Will Tear Us Apart” was taken sometime between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning.

A police spokesman said: “There is no CCTV in the area and there are no apparent leads as to who is responsible for the theft.

“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.”

Although the band reformed into New Order after Curtis’s death in 1980, there has been an upsurge of interest in its work.

An acclaimed biopic about Curtis, called Control, was released in 2007 and a film documentary, called simply Joy Division, was released earlier this year.

What is wrong with people? I mean, as far as I’m concerned a body is just an empty shell, but this is so incredibly disrespectful, not just to the memory of the man but to the surviving family that have likely never overcome his tragic suicide. Not to mention the millions of Joy Division fans touched by the incredible music this man produced and that visit the site regularly to pay their respects. Who did this? Someone so selfish they had to have some piece of Curtis all to themselves? Or some prick that hates Goths and felt a need to piss on something meaningful for them?

Perhaps I’m taking it too personally, but I think it’s an absolutely awful thing to do and it will probably end up being the work of some silly prankster. Thanks for ruining my faith in humanity today, gravestone thief!

MP3: Joy Division - Atrocity Exhibition

- Sean