23:40, 23 February 2010

National sight of pride desecrated in Karachai-Circassia

A criminal case has been opened in Karachai-Circassia on the fact of desecration by unidentified persons of the national sight - Karachai Boulder.

As reported by the press service of the local MIA, the case was opened under the article of "vandalism" of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

"Unidentified culprits poured red paint over the boulder and crushed the granite monument nearby," said the press service.

The "Castle Boulder of Karachai" ("Kyadau Tash") was restored in November 2009. It is a multi-tonnage rounded boulder, which is the centre of the landscape composition located on the left bank of the Kuban River near the village of Elborusskiy.

Experts differ on the structure and nature of the "Karachai Boulder". Ethnographers and culture experts assert that the Karachais have been sure since the old days that the boulder had fallen from the heavens; therefore, people have treated it with special tenderness, the ITAR-TASS writes.