Demolition work on historic Prague villa continuing despite ordered temporary stop

Locals say demolition work on a historic villa in Prague's cultural heritage zone on Petřín hill is still continuing, despite the city of Prague ordering a temporary halt to the works, Czech news site Deník N wrote on Monday. Legal proceedings have begun to determine whether the permit for the building work was issued lawfully. The Czech Building Authority approved the demolition work despite the objections of the local residents, the Prague 5 district government, and the National Heritage Institute.

According to earlier reports by Deník N, the villa is being demolished in order for a new house to be built there instead for a secret investor, whose identity is hidden behind a tangle of sixteen offshore companies based in Cyprus.

The villa, located in Prague's Smíchov neighbourhood, used to be the home of Czechoslovak politician Josef Schieszl, a close associate of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk.