THE HAGUE, October 31. /TASS/. A cemetery for Soviet soldiers at the Ereveld memorial complex near Leusden in the Dutch province of Utrecht has been desecrated for the second time this year, RTV Utrecht reported.
According to the broadcaster, vandals daubed red and black graffiti on various parts of the memorial honoring heroes of the Great Patriotic War. Police have opened an investigation, with officers and forensic experts working at the site.
"This is tragic and sad. We are consulting with the authorities handling the case. We hope a solution will be found to prevent this from happening again," Remco Reiding, director of the Soviet War Cemetery Foundation, which manages the memorial complex, told reporters.
On July 10, the Netherlands War Graves Foundation reported an earlier act of vandalism at the Soviet cemetery near Leusden. It said its management had immediately notified police and was working with the authorities to repair the damage and restore the site as quickly as possible. Reiding told TASS at the time that around 150 graves had been defaced with red graffiti.