MAHILEU, Belarus -- Police in the eastern Belarusian city of Mahileu have detained two teenagers suspected of desecrating a monument that honors victims of the Holocaust.
Alyaksey Kaplan, the chairman of the Directorate of the Jewish Community in Mahileu, told RFE/RL that police informed him on November 23 that two "skinheads" were detained and two other suspects were being sought.
The suspects face hooliganism charges.
Local authorities in Mahileu said on November 21 that unknown perpetrators had poured black paint on the memorial stone during the weekend.
The stone marks the site of the Jewish ghetto in Mahileu during the occupation of the town by Nazi Germany in World War II.
In October and November 1941, troops from Nazi Germany killed more than 10,000 Jews at the site.
In June 2012, vandals poured brown paint on the same stone. The perpetrators were never found.