Sri Lanka Orders Probe on Attack on Indian Statue

COLOMBO (NNN-Xinhua) -- The Sri Lankan government has ordered an investigation into an incident in eastern Sri Lanka where several statues including that of Indian independence icon Mahatma Gandhi had been vandalized, a statement by the Sri Lankan External Affairs Ministry said Saturday.

"It has been brought to the notice of the Ministry of External Affairs that several important statues in the Batticaloa town had been vandalized. The Inspector General of Police has been instructed to carry out an immediate and thorough investigation into these incidents to identify motives and culprits behind these acts of vandalism," the External Affairs Ministry said.

The Sri Lankan police said that the attackers had beheaded the statues of Gandhi and Britain's Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scout movement.

According to the police, two other statues of local figures had also been attacked on Thursday, which appeared to have been a coordinated crime. --NNN-XINHUA