Thieves who plundered a hoard of medieval weapons from a castle said to have inspired English novelist Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ are being hunted by police in Germany.

The arms – including a lance, a double-headed axe and a sword – were taken from the 13th-century Frankenstein Castle, in the municipality of Muehltal, Hesse State on Sunday, 8th October.

Spookily the break-in happened just as the castle is set to be the centre of Hallowe’en celebrations with more than 10,000 guests. The festivities were about to begin this Friday, on 20th October.

The brooding, turreted hilltop castle gained worldwide popularity after it inspired Mary Shelley’s classic gothic horror novel ‘Frankenstein’, also known as ‘The Modern Prometheus’ from 1818.

Shelly reportedly visited the area in 1815 and learned about real-life alchemist Johann Conrad Dippel who lived at the castle and tried to reanimate bodies he had dug up.

Thus, the novel tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment.

The first edition of ‘Frankenstein’ was published anonymously in London on 1st January 1818, when Shelly was 20 years old.

Her name made it on the cover of the second edition of the book, published in Paris, France in 1821.

Now, police are hunting for marauders who battered down a heavy wooden door in the castle’s tower to get to the weapons, and instantly fled the scene.

Police spokesperson Katrin Pipping from the South Hesse Police Headquarters said in a statement obtained by Newsflash: “As it turned out last weekend [October 14th – 15th], previously unknown criminals stole medieval weapons from a castle on Ralphweg.

“According to current knowledge, the criminals used force to gain access to a tower there.”

Pipping said police have now launched an investigation into the theft, and are currently witnesses to contact them in case they are familiar with the suspects’ whereabouts.