It’s understandable that someone would harbor a lifelong love of the opera, an affection that could lead one to wish they could stay at the theater forever. But New York police say one opera fan’s expression of devotion went a step too far when he scattered what seems to have been his mentor’s ashes during a performance at the Metropolitan Opera.

The impromptu farewell cut off a performance of “Guillaume Tell” on Saturday at Lincoln Center, the New York Daily News reports.

Investigators say it appears that an opera buff dumped his deceased friend’s ashes into the orchestra pit.

“Members of the orchestra … noticed an individual in a suit who approached the orchestra pit, reached into a bag, removed a powdery substance, sprinkled that into the orchestra pit, moved further down, reached into the bag again, sprinkled more of this substance into the orchestra pit,” NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence and Counterterrorism John Miller tsaid.

The city’s health department will test the substance to confirm exactly what it is, officials say.

Police said the man simply left after dumping the ashes, and that it didn’t appear that “he had any reason to believe what he did was wrong,” Miller said.

Audience members were none too pleased to find that the show had been canceled before the final act, witnesses say. A Met staffer later informed the audience that no one had been hurt, but that the show couldn’t go on.

“They booed him. He couldn’t even get all of his words out,” one audience member told the Daily News. “Somebody was yelling, ‘I want my money back! I want my money back!’”

The Met also canceled a performance of “L’Italiana in Algeri” that was scheduled later that night due to the investigation.

Metropolitan Opera House audience member may have tossed his dead mentor’s ashes into orchestral pit [New York Daily News]

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