Tombstone of Hitler's Parents Comes Down

Neo-Nazis have lost a familiar haunting ground: The tombstone identifying the burial site of Hitler's parents, Alois and Klara, has been removed from an Austrian cemetery, reports AP. The marker was taken away at the request of a relative, in part because it had become a shrine for extremists. And in a weird development, the relative is giving up her rights to be buried in the plot, making it available for someone else.

The black marble stone, adorned with faded photographs of the couple, was dismantled Wednesday by a stonemason hired by an elderly woman who was the descendant of Alois Hitler's first wife. "A lot of flowers and wreaths were deposited there from people who clearly were admirers," says a member of an Austrian anti-extremist group. "It had to do with the son and not the parents." (More Adolf Hitler stories.)