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Up to 80 cars were set on fire by "youths" during a night of mayhem across Sweden.

Fires were reported in the cities of Malmö, Gothenburg and Helsingborg on Monday evening as chaos descended across the country.

Video footage showed dozens of cars ablaze while there were also reports that stones were thrown at officers trying to intervene.

Police said, in total, around 80 cars were set on fire across the region.

According to Swedish police, young people were behind the rampage and an investigation has been launched into whether the various fires across the country were linked.

Local reports suggested that Gothenburg police and fire services were alerted to the first fire at about 9pm local time.

Following this, several calls are said to have come in from areas including Trollhättan, Lysekil and Falkenberg some 100 kilometres away.

Johan Eklund, emergency control room officer in the greater Gothenburg area, told Swedish news agency TT: “We have been to around 20 places in Gothenburg. It’s mainly vehicles that have burned – cars, some trucks, caravans.”

A police spokesperson also told TT : "We know from experience that these kinds of fires more often happen the week before schools start than other weeks.”

Swedish media reported that groups of up to ten youths had been seen throwing stones and lighting cars on fire in Gothenburg districts Gårdsten, Hjällbo and Frölunda.

There were also reports of young people setting cars on fire in Hjällbo and Malmo.

Swedish police said no injuries were reported from the night of destruction, according to the Daily Mail.

"While most fires started within a short period of time, it can not be excluded that there is a connection between the fires, the case will be investigated," police said.

The violence comes just three weeks before Swedish voters go to the polls in a general election.