File photo of Jimmy Savile
The gravestone of Jimmy Savile, one of Britain's biggest TV stars in the 1970s and 1980s, was removed overnight Tuesday-Wednesday and will be sent to a landfill site as police probe a string of sex abuse allegations.
Savile's family said it asked for the stone to be taken from the cemetery "out of respect to public opinion" after police confirmed that he could have abused up to 25 girls, mainly aged 13 to 16.
The removal of the gravestone completes a rapid fall from grace for Savile, who was feted as a national institution by his former employer, the BBC, when he died last year at the age of 84.
After accusations in a TV documentary, officers from London's Metropolitan Police said on Tuesday they had formally recorded eight allegations of abuse against Savile -- two of rape and six of indecent assault -- spanning four decades.
Fresh allegations emerged on Wednesday when a former patient at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital for spinal injuries, one of Savile's favoured charities and the birthplace of the Paralympic Games, alleged he had abused girls there.
The trust running the hospital said it was shocked by the claims.
The presenter of the popular "Jim'll Fix It" show was buried, at his own request, in a gold coffin in a grave facing the sea, with an ornate black and gold headstone bearing the words: "It was good while it lasted."
Explaining the decision to remove the stone, a family spokesman said: "The family members are deeply aware of the impact that the stone remaining there could have on the dignity and sanctity of the cemetery.
"Out of respect to public opinion, to those who are buried there, and to those who tend their graves and visit there, we have decided to remove it."
Funeral director Robert Morphit said the family had contacted him on Tuesday to request that the stone, which was only erected last month, be dismantled.
"It'll be broken up and just go to landfill," he said. "When we erected his headstone not three weeks ago I expected it to be here forever. I never thought it'd be removed, let alone so quickly."
Prime Minister David Cameron has called for the BBC and the police to investigate fully the claims against the eccentric radio DJ and TV presenter.
The claims from women who say they were sexually assaulted by Savile when they were children, in some cases in dressing rooms at BBC studios, were made in an ITV television documentary last week.