Original headline: Stumped by Holy Grail
WORLD War II code experts following in the footsteps of Monty Python have been stumped in an attempt to crack the secret of the Holy Grail.
The Enigma Code-cracking veterans joined GCHQ specialists in a bid to decipher a mysterious inscription rumoured to point the way to the treasure.
The message is engraved on a garden ornament dating from 1748 known as Shepherd's Monument at the ancestral home of the Earls of Lichfield, in Staffordshire.
But an early effort to get to the bottom of the mystery has failed.
Christine Large, director of the National Codes Centre at Bletchley Park, said it was even possible that the wording was meaningless.
The legendary Enigma code breaking machine was brought in to help codebreakers in their quest, to no avail.
They studied the marble slab, depicting a mirror image of a painting by Nicholas Poussin with the letters D.O.U.O.S.V.A.V.V.M. etched beneath.
Christine said it was unlikely the code would ever be broken if it was a "one to one" written from person to another.
She added: "This looks to us as if it’s probably going to need language expertise - maybe skills in Greek and maybe forgotten languages - as well as mathematics and puzzles."
The Holy Grail is believed by many to be the cup used by Christ at The Last Supper.
Attempts to find it have been the subject of many films and novels, including Monty Python and The Holy Grail.
