Vandalism continues after monument removal

  • 2004-09-09
  • By The Baltic Times
TALLINN 's Police said they had recorded three more cases of vandalism against Soviet monuments on Tuesday in addition to the five previous instances over recent days.

In the Salme municipality on Saaremaa Island, graffiti reading "Glory, Comrade Parts" had been drawn on a memorial tablet commemorating Red Army soldiers, while another monument situated at Imara had been painted red.
At Surju in Parnu county vandals had used blue paint and the text read "For Lihula" 's in reference to the Estonian freedom-fighter monument that was forcibly removed by police last week.
The government, led by Prime Minister Juhan Parts, ordered the removal since the person depicted on the monument resembles a German Wehrmacht soldier. In the Parts' opinion, this reflected badly on Estonia's international reputation.
In another case of vandalism, a monument in Hirvepark, Tallinn commemorating an Aug. 23, 1987 rally that became a landmark in Estonia's struggle for independence from the Soviet Union, was desecrated with a swastika of red paint.
Estonian Radio reported that police had more than one person on their list of potential suspects in connection with the acts of vandalism. District prosecutor Indrek Kalda, who is charge of the investigation, would not offer any details.
No arrests had been made by Tuesday afternoon.