The head of horror legend F.W. Murnau was stolen from his crypt

It's not the first time someone has broken into the crypt of Nosferatu director F.W. Murnau, but it is the first time someone has stolen his head.

Police say a head was removed from a crypt in the Stahnsdorf cemetery southwest of Berlin, and since wax drippings were found at the scene, the head will likely be used in an occult ceremony. While police would not say if it was Murnau's crypt, the Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation confirmed that it is. "We have received this news with disbelief," Ernst Szebedits, managing director of the foundation, told NBC News. "It doesn't make sense."

Murnau died in 1931, and the crypt is also the final resting place of his brothers. A retelling of Dracula, Nosferatu is considered a horror masterpiece that has influenced numerous directors. Over the years, several occult ceremonies have taken place at Murnau's crypt, and people have damaged it, the cemetery's manager said. Police say they are not sure how long the head has been missing.

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