A statue of President James Garfield was decapitated just hours after its dedication ceremony at Ohio's Hiram College.

The 95-year-old sandstone statue of the 20th U.S. president was dedicated Thursday at the college's Garfield Institute for Public Leadership. The following morning, the head of the monument was noticed to be missing, the UPI reported.

Ohio-born President Garfield was assassinated in 1881 before he completed a full year in office.

Sandstone is brittle, so officials speculate that someone climbed the statue and rocked Garfield's head back and forth until the neck snapped on the statue, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported.

Hiram police are investigating the missing head, college spokesman Shawn Brown told the Plain Dealer, but he dismissed theories that students had anything to do with the heist.

School trustee Paul Martin bought the statue at an auction in southern Ohio. He gave it to the school a few months ago, the Plain Dealer reported.

With the head intact, the presidential statue was valued at between $20,000 and $30,000.