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Members of the Conservative Christian Party (CCP) on Saturday grabbed two young men who they said were pulling down and damaging memorial crosses in Kurapaty, a Stalin-era massacre site near Minsk, CCP Acting Chairman Yury Belenki told BelaPAN.
The opposition activists had arrived at the woody area, where thousands of people are believed to have been executed during Stalinist purges, to do some cleanup and landscaping work one day before a traditional march to the site on the occasion of Remembrance of Ancestors Day (Dzyady).
The pair, who were said to be caught red-handed, were handed over to the police. A police team arrived at the site later that day to study and record the damage. Five crosses were said to have been damaged.
The Belarusian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported on Sunday that both men were underage and had already been released. The police have opened an inquiry into the incident.
Kurapaty has been the target of regular vandal attacks but no perpetrators had been caught before Saturday. BelaPAN