Mount of Olives cemetery (file)
Mount of Olives cemetery (file)Israel news photo: Flash 90

Unknown vandals have tipped over and broken 26 headstones at a Jewish cemetery in the village of Prudice in the southwestern corner of the Czech Republic, police said Wednesday

"The vandalism occurred during the last two months. The damage has been evaluated at 100,000 koruna ($5,140)," police spokesman Miroslav Doubek said.

"Police experts on combating extremists are currently investigating motives," he added.

Located on a forested hill, the cemetery in Prudice, dating from the early 18th century, covers an area of some 2,996 square meters (3,580 square yards) and contains around 150 tombstones. The last burial there took place in 1938, prior to World War II and the Holocaust.

There are currently about 320 Jewish cemeteries in the Czech Republic, where the Jewish community numbers an estimated 3,500 people in the ex-communist EU nation of 10.5 million. Prior to the Holocaust the community stood at 120,000. An estimated 80,000 were deported or killed under Nazi German occupation.