A memorial bust of the late Jim Morrison that disappeared from his Paris grave site nearly four decades ago was recently recovered by Paris police.
“After 37 years of absence, the bust of Jim Morrison, stolen in 1988 from the Père Lachaise cemetery, has been found!” the Paris Regional Judicial Police Directorate on Friday wrote on Instagram.
The post detailed that during an unrelated investigation conducted by the police, the “iconic symbol for the singer’s fans was recovered.”
The bust, sculpted by Croatian artist Mladen Mikulin, was placed on Morrison’s tombstone in 1981 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Doors frontman’s death. The bust disappeared just seven years later, puzzling Parisian authorities and fans alike.
His parents eventually replaced his headstone, which was damaged throughout the ’80s, in 1990. It was etched with the elegy “True to His Spirit” in Greek.
But the bust remained lost, at least until its surprising rediscovery last week.
“This was a chance discovery made during a search ordered by an examining magistrate at the Paris court,” the Paris prosecutor’s office told CNN in a statement Tuesday.
Officials did not share details concerning the purpose of the search.
Fans have long flocked to the grave site of Morrison, who was the Doors’ lead singer until he died in 1971 at just 27 years old. According to Paris’ official website, the grave is “one of the most visited” in the city.
Morrison spent four months living in the French capital before his untimely demise. The site claims he settled in the George V Hotel in the spring of 1971 before relocating to 17 rue Beautreillis, where he would live with his then-partner Pamela Courson. He was later found dead in that apartment’s bathtub; his official cause of death was reported to be heart failure.
The website adds that he had moved to the city to start a literary career, and enjoyed walks around Place des Vosges and Île Saint-Louis. He would order “bottles of white wine at the former bar L’Alexandre” before “getting drunk at Rosebud” and “hanging out on the quays with the second-hand booksellers or the Shakespeare and Company bookstore.”
A representative from Morrison’s estate told CNN that they were “happy to hear” the bust had been recovered.
“Obviously it’s a piece of history, and one Jim’s family wanted there on his grave, so it’s gratifying to see that it’s been recovered,” they added. “Now we’ll have to see what kind of shape the bust is in.”
