"Why the Local Specialty?"... 'Guduso Tombstone' Damaged Ahead of Christmas

Used as Movie Props, Local Residents Call It "Disgusting Act"

The 'Scrooge Tombstone' located in a cemetery in Shrewsbury, England, has been damaged. It is the tombstone of Ebenezer Scrooge, the stingy character from the novel A Christmas Carol.

On the 26th, Yonhap News quoted the British daily The Guardian, reporting that the Shrewsbury police in central England received a report the previous day about the Scrooge tombstone being found vandalized in a local church cemetery and have launched an investigation.

Damaged Scrooge tombstone. West Mercia Police, Photo by Yonhap News

The identity of the suspect and the motive behind the vandalism of the Scrooge tombstone remain unknown. The tombstone, which was broken into several pieces in what appears to be an act of terror, features in A Christmas Carol. In the novel, it plays an important role in the process where Scrooge repents his miserly life and becomes a new person.

Scrooge stands in front of an abandoned grave with the third ghost, the 'Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come,' and is shocked to see a tombstone bearing his name. Since Scrooge is a fictional character, the Scrooge tombstone located in the Shrewsbury cemetery is not an actual grave marker.

The novel was adapted into a film, and the tombstone was installed during the filming of the 1984 American movie A Christmas Carol, starring veteran actor George C. Scott. The film crew used a stone that was believed to have been an actual tombstone from centuries ago but whose inscription had faded over time as a prop.

Although filming ended, the Scrooge tombstone prop remained in the cemetery. Since then, locals have said it has become a symbol of the Shrewsbury area. A Shrewsbury local government official told the media, "All the local residents are outraged that someone committed such a disgusting act," adding, "We hope the culprit feels remorse and confesses."