Bronze Soldier monument defiled in Estonia
TALLINN. August 11. KAZINFORM. The Bronze Soldier monument, erected in the Estonian capital Tallinn decades ago to honor the Soviet Army for liberating Estonia from Nazi occupation during World War II, was defiled on Monday evening. Unknown vandals painted pro-Nazi and anti-Communist and anti-Semiotic graffiti on the wall behind the monument, says the Internet portal of Estonia's Russian community; Kazinform refers to Itar-Tass.
The act of vandalism occurred at Tallinn's military cemetery, where the monument was moved back in April 2007 from the city's center at the decision of the Estonian authorities. The police then cracked down on protest demonstrations by the Russian-speaking population against the monument's removal.
Another monument to the Soviet soldiers, the one in Kehra, was defiled in May 2009. The vandals dug out the gravestone and overturned the stone vases for flowers; Kazinform cites Itar-Tass. See www.itar-tass.com for full version.