Prosecutors in the Russian city of Lipetsk have ordered the removal of a bust of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin that was put up without permission by the local branch of the Communist Party on a city street earlier this year, the Interfax news agency reported Monday.
The city's commission for commemorating outstanding figures, historical events and naming streets and city locations had advised the Communists to erect the monument inside their headquarters, but they instead put it up outdoors, the report said.
Numerous requests to remove the bust were sent to the leader of the branch, Nikolai Razvorotnev, but to no avail.
Immediately after the monument was installed, an unidentified woman threw pink paint over it, Interfax reported.