BARNAUL, September 17 (Itar-Tass) —— The police have detained a suspected vandal of a remembrance cross, which was installed at the village Topuchaya in the Shebalino district in the Republic of Altai at the place of a future chapel in honour of the builders of the Chui road, a source in the republican interior ministry told Itar-Tass on Monday.

The law enforcement agencies reported that a local resident with previous convictions committed an act of vandalism. He confessed to the crime.

The incident with the remembrance cross in the Republic of Altai stirred up a broad public response. Overnight to September 4 the vandals fell down and damaged partially the remembrance cross. The veneration cross was installed on May 26, 2012, at the place, where a chapel will be built in commemoration of the builders of the Chui road (the federal highway R-256), which is connecting Russia and Mongolia. The criminal case was opened over this incident. Head of the region Alexander Berdnikov put the investigation under personal control.