PRAGUE, August 22. /TASS/. Vandals desecrated a monument dedicated to WWII Soviet Marshal Ivan Konev in Prague, the police told TASS on Thursday.

"The police received information about a vandalized monument to a Soviet commander installed at Interbrigade Square in the capital’s sixth district on Thursday morning," the police said.

"The perpetrators whose identities are unknown most likely committed the act at night or in the early morning hours," the police stated.

Law enforcement officials have launched a probe into the monument’s desecration. The perpetrators will face charges of ‘vandalism’ and "inflicting damage to public property," together they carry a prison term of up to several years.

The vandals poured red paint on the plinth and the lower part of the monument to the Soviet marshal depicted as standing full length. They also left insulting inscriptions on the monument. The authorities have pledged to promptly remove them and clean off the paint from the statue.

The monument to the Soviet commander was installed in Prague in 1980. The event was timed for the 35th anniversary of Prague’s liberation from the Nazis by the 1st Ukrainian Front commanded by Marshal Konev.