Mystery surrounds a brand new headstone which has been installed over the grave of baby farmer Minnie Dean - the only woman ever to be hanged in New Zealand.
Dean was found guilty of infanticide, executed and buried in the southland town of Winton 113 years ago.
Dean's grave has remained unmarked since she was lowered into it 113 years ago, but now a modern headstone has appeared over the burial site in the Winton cemetery.
Set in concrete, it reads: "Minnie Dean is part of Winton's history / Where she now lies is now no mystery."
But however the headstone got there certainly is a mystery.
"Very odd," says Vince Boyle, Winton historian. "It's the oddest thing I've known. In many odd stories about her, this is the oddest."
"Somebody said it's been put there in the last couple of days," says John McHugh, Winton Community Board. "I would suggest it was probably put there in the last couple of nights. I don't think anybody would be brazen enough to stand there and do that in daylight."
There are no markings identifying who it. Local stonemasons contacted by 3 News denied all of the work.
A relative of Dean in Scotland had been planning to mark the resting place of his great-great aunt, but told 3 News it was not his work either.
"My aim was to put a memorial in place to bring some healing and closure for my family," says Martin McCrae, "and at present I'm seeking advice as to how to deal with this new development."
There are many myths surrounding Dean. One says grass never grows over her grave - locals reckon that is due to the odd spray of weedkiller rather than any mysterious curse.
Dunedin author Lynley Hood says Southlanders seem to see Dean as a "monster of childhood nightmares", with claims she killed babies with hat pins and threw their bodies into streams. She believes the legends have clouded the truth.
"Until people can unravel that and say, hey, she was a real person that lived and died in this community and let us allow her to rest in peace, well that I think will," says Dr Hood.
Winton residents do not believe the headstone is the work of a local. They say people here always knew where Dean lay, so it has never been a mystery to anyone living in the town.
The official family headstone was just days away from being installed, so the rhyming stone will probably be removed - another chapter in the colourful history of Minnie Dean.
3 News