Grave-robbers stole the corpse of the former president of Cyprus from his tomb yesterday, the day before the first anniversary of his death.


The desecration of Tassos Papadopoulos's remains was discovered in the morning. The perpetrators were thought to have worked overnight in torrential rain.


A former bodyguard who visited the tomb found piles of earth by the graveside and an empty casket. "This is a sacrilege," he said.