MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: A slice of a human ankle bone has been stolen from an internationally renowned travelling exhibition of the human body in Australia, organisers said Tuesday (July 31st).

"We are shocked that someone would be so disrespectful as to take part of an exhibit from this educational exhibition," said Paul Liu, organiser of the Amazing Human Body Exhibition in Melbourne.

"This has never happened in any part of the world the exhibition has toured and we urge the person responsible to come forward and return the missing body part."

The piece of ankle bone was part of a display showing sliced cross-sections of an entire human body. The theft has been reported to police.

"We can't imagine why anybody would steal it - it's just bizarre," a spokeswoman for the exhibition at the Waterfront City Pavilion told AFP.

The Amazing Human Body is described as an educational exhibition allowing audiences to view viewing real human specimens preserved through a method called "plastination."

The exhibition presents around 400 real human specimens, including 18 whole bodies and individual organs.