HILLSBOROUGH, NH – The body of a woman who died more than 180 years ago was stolen from the remote Bible Hill Cemetery sometime around Halloween, police said yesterday. The gravesite of Sarah Symonds, who died in June 1821 at the age of either 30 or 32, was excavated with a rectangular hole dug 5.5 feet deep, police said. Mounds of dirt from the hole were left on either side of the hole, and the headstone was intact.

Nothing was left of the body, police said, but material that resembled decayed wood was mixed in with the piles of dirt next to the hole -- most likely the remnants of a pine coffin. Police suspect whoever dug the hole did so between Oct. 30 and Nov. 2.

A monument unrelated to Symonds' grave was the only other thing disturbed in the cemetery, police said. The monument was knocked over, but it is believed that whoever knocked it over stood it back up on its base. The Bible Hill Cemetery is on a closed road between Bible Hill and Beard Brook Road.

Lt. Darren Remillard of the Hillsborough Police Department is investigating the incident. He said investigators are looking into Symonds' life and family history. Police ask that anyone with information about the incident or Sarah Symonds contact police at 464-5512.