Police have opened criminal proceedings into the vandalism and are seeking information about the perpetrators.

Margus Saar, who has worked as a cemetery caretaker for 21 years, was the first person to find the broken graves.

"The police have now established that 105 graves were damaged. Tombstones have been broken – knocked over and then shattered. Expensive granite grave lanterns have had their glass smashed, and flowers have also been damaged. I tend to think it happened on Sunday and that young people were responsible. That's what the footprints suggest," Saar said.

The Saaremaa municipal administration, which manages the municipality's cemeteries, will start to clean up the damage on Wednesday.

"The police have now initiated criminal proceedings under the section of the Penal Code concerning desecration of the memory of the deceased. The punishment for this is a fine or imprisonment. If minors are involved, the type of punishment remains exactly the same. This is the first time vandalism on such a scale has occurred here," said Minna Raun, regional group leader at Kuressaare police station.

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