Battleground monument badly damaged by would-be thieves

Unknown perpetrators severely damaged a battleground monument near Hradec Králové during the night on Wednesday. Police believe the culprits were trying to steal a part of a statue commemorated to fallen Austrian soldiers in the 1866 Battle of Königgrätz when part of it fell on to the road below. Authorities estimate damage to the memorial, which was restored just six years ago, at between 500,000 and a million crowns. The battleground is an officially preserved area where nearly half a million troops met in a decisive episode of the Austro-Prussian War.