Prague, March 31 (CTK) – The Czech Foreign Ministry received a diplomatic note from the Russian embassy complaining about the damage to the Red Army soldiers monument in Male Brezno, north Bohemia, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Irena Valentova has told journalists.
Someone removed the text and the five-pointed star from the memorial, Valentova said.
The server Aktualne.cz said it could be protest by locals who disagree with its recent repair.
“The Foreign Ministry confirms the receipt of the diplomatic note from the Russian embassy,” Valentova said.
“We have studied the note and we are in contact with the local mayor and the embassy of Russia when it comes to our further steps,” she added.
The note, the ministry received this morning, said the memorial was desecrated. The Russian Foreign Ministry describes the damage as vandalism online.
Valentova said except for the removal of the star and inscription, no damage occurred at the memorial unveiled last December.
The stolen inscription bore the text “AS A SIGN OF GRATITUDE TO RED ARMY.”
“The inscription is on the memorial even after the plaque was removed,” Valentova said.
Mayor Renata Zvonickova told the server Aktualne.cz that the repair of the memorial had caused a dispute in the municipality. Some residents welcomed it, others rejected it, she added.
The Russian diplomacy said it expected the finding of the culprits and reinstatement of the memorial to its original form.
It also demands the measures that would prevent the repetition of a similar incident.
Valentova has declined to elaborate on the steps to be taken by the Czech diplomacy.
