Three young people in the Far East city of Nakhodka have been detained for allegedly painting part of a Lenin statue to resemble a block of cheese, Interfax reported on Wednesday, citing local police.
The painters, all in their 20s, said they wanted to amuse local residents by repainting the pedestal under the statue of a seated Lenin staring thoughtfully into space and holding a copy of Pravda. They were apprehended, paint cans allegedly in hand, before they were able to finish the job.
"Such pranks involving statues are unacceptable," a police spokesman said, adding that the vandals would be brought to justice.
Pranks involving statues of Lenin, which are ubiquitous in provincial Russia, have been common since the fall of the Soviet Union.
Click here to see the Nakhodka statue after the new paint job.
