Two Germans caught with 14 stolen skulls by Austrian police

Police in Austria caught two Germans with 14 skulls stolen from a churchyard ossuary in the southern part of the country.

The pair told police that they had taken the skulls because they have a keen interest in mourning and burial culture.

The two men, both from the Regensburg area of Bavaria, told police that they had never stolen a skull before.

Police discovered the skulls in the trunk of the men's car during a vehicle check on Friday. The bones were reportedly taken from a freely accessible ossuary in the small municipality of Mölbling.

The two men will likely be cited for disturbing the peace of the dead after an investigation, the police said.

Ossuaries have historically been used to store bones that could no longer be accommodated in cemeteries due to lack of space.