LONDON (AP) — If life imitates art, a vandal may be haunted by The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come for smashing a tombstone that marked the fictional grave of Ebenezer Scrooge in the English countryside.

Police in Shrewsbury are investigating how the grave marker, in place for 40 years after being used as a movie prop in “A Christmas Carol,” was destroyed.

The 1984 film, one of dozens of adaptations of the Charles Dickens’ classic, starred George C. Scott as the cold-hearted curmudgeon. After going to sleep on Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by the ghosts of past, present and future and shown the error of his ways to become a kinder, more generous person.

The future ghost shows Scrooge what will become of his life if he doesn’t change. He’s eventually led to a cemetery where the ghost brushes snow from a gravestone that reveals his name. Scrooge, distraught by all he’s seen, vows to turn his life around.

After filming, the stone was kept in place on the grounds of St. Chad’s Church where it had become a tourist attraction — particularly at Christmas.

West Mercia Police said the stone was vandalized sometime between Thursday and Sunday. Photos showed it broken into several pieces.