Vandals have damaged monuments dedicated to Poles murdered by Nazi Germans in WWII, the latest in a string of similar attacks in western Ukraine.

Over the weekend, unknown perpetrators splashed red paint on monuments at a site in Lviv, western Ukraine, dedicated to the victims of the 1941 massacre of Lwów professors by Nazi German troops.

The vandals also damaged a cross and memorial plaques honouring Polish victims in the village of Pidkamin in the Lviv region, the PAP news agency reported.

Polish Ambassador to Ukraine Jan Piekło told PAP on Sunday that the words “death to Lachy” were also inscribed on the monuments. The agency said that “Lachy” is the name of an ancient Polish tribe, used as a reference to Polish people.

Piekło said: “In Lviv, the local administration responded very quickly. The monument ... was cleaned immediately”. He added that a diplomatic note on the incident would be sent to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.

The attack was the latest in a string of vandalism in western Ukraine. In January a monument to the Poles murdered in 1944 in the village of Huta Pieniacka in Ukraine was destroyed.

In a separate incident days later, another site at the Bykivnia cemetery in western Ukraine was painted over by vandals. Both sites were dedicated to the memory of Poles who were killed in WWII. (rg/vb)