Police arrest 2 youths for defacing Bronze Soldier monument
Police have detained two youths for defacing the Bronze Soldier monument at the Defense Forces Cemetery in Tallinn late on Saturday evening.
Inna Toater, head of the Ida-Harju police station, told Estonian media outlet Delfi that the two suspects are both minors.
The inscription "Deporter" ("Küüditaja") had been daubed on both sides of the statue in graffiti.
According to Hellar Lill, director of the Estonian War Museum, the museum had hired a security company to guard the Bronze Soldier from May 8 to 10., covering the period in which Russia and Russian citizens commemorate the Red Army's victory over Nazi Germany.
However, the act of vandalism took place after the security company had already finished its work at the cemetery.
"Despite the controversial nature of the monument and the fact that it arouses mixed feelings in people, the act of defacing the statue is still to be deplored," Lill stressed.
According to Vaiko Vaher, head of the Northern Prefecture Operations Office of the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA), Saturday's incident was one of several in which the Bronze Soldier has been damaged. He added that the police had opened a misdemeanor investigation in relation to the incident.
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Editor: Aleksander Krjukov, Michael Cole
