In the resort town of Teplice in the north of the Czech Republic on the night of 7 May, unknown persons destroyed a monument to the Red Army soldiers, Czech media reported.
The stone statue of a Red Army soldier with a machine gun was installed in 1955 in the town park. It did not officially have the status of a cultural monument, but was registered with the Ministry of Defence, which deals with war memorials. Media outlets note that given the size and weight of the statue, it can be assumed that it was the efforts of several vandals. The statue was thrown off its pedestal and shattered. The damage to the monument was reported to the municipal police this morning by passers-by.
Police are investigating a criminal case and are searching for those involved in the destruction of the monument. “Regardless of what symbolism a part of society sees in this statue, it is necessary to condemn vandalism as a form of disagreement with something,” said Mayor Jiri Stabl. It is still unclear whether the monument will be restored.
Military monuments, including those with Soviet symbols, are under state protection in the Czech Republic.
In 2020, a monument to Marshal Ivan Konev was dismantled in Prague by decision of the district authorities. This step caused a very sharp reaction from Moscow. The municipal authorities explained their decision both by Konev’s role in the suppression of the Hungarian uprising of 1956 and the events of 1968, as well as by the fact that the sculpture was installed in 1980 and was perceived not as a monument to the liberation of Czechoslovakia, but as a symbol of its vassal dependence on the USSR after the suppression of the Prague Spring.