According to reports, some grave robbers have stolen the body of film director after he was exhumed and beheaded.

Police confirmed on Wednesday that the hoodlums took from a crypt the head of German expressionist, Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, but did not rule out an occultist motive after finding candle wax in the family crypt in Stahnsdorf, Berlin, the German capital.

Murnau directed the vampire classic film, 'Nosferatu-A Symphony of Horror'.

Police further said they are investigating the case on charges of theft and disturbing the peace of the dead.

The late movie director was born in 1888 and died in 1931 in a car crash near Santa Barbara, California, USA. His body was later repatriated to his native Germany.