Pigs are rumored to eat just about anything. But one German farmer's choice of feed got him in trouble with authorities.

Police charged the 29-year-old farmer from the town of Frizlar-Haddamar with improper burial after he fed the corpse of an elderly family friend to his pigs.

He was also charged with fraud for stealing from the man's bank account.

Reuters reports the man died in the farmer's yard in Feb. 2005. He had power-of-attorney, which gave him free reign over the man's pension and bank account.

At first, the corpse was placed in a deep freezer. The farmer told neighbors that the elderly man was placed in a nursing home.

Later, he thawed out the corpse, dismembered it and fed it to his pigs. The uneaten parts were placed into a sack and buried.

Police say in a statement, "From lectures about various religions the 29-year-old knew that Buddhists either burn the dead or allow wild animals to eat them. That was how he decided to feed the corpse to his pigs."

The farmer told police "it was a great act of stupidity."