Blast damages statue of Lenin

ST. PETERSBURG, Romania, April 1 (UPI) -- Russian police say an explosion Wednesday badly damaged one of the few statues of communist leader Vladimir Lenin remaining in St. Petersburg.

The blast left the 1926 monument to Lenin in such precarious condition that it had to be immediately dismantled and transported to professional restorers, the Russian news agency RIA Novosti reports.

Cost of the repair work was estimated at $17,300 to $23,500.

Although there were once numerous monuments to Lenin in St. Petersburg, the damaged statue is one of the few to have survived the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The bronze statue was unveiled on Nov. 7, 1926, at the site where Lenin made a prominent speech after returning from exile just prior to the Russian Revolution.

The Community Party of Russia called Wednesday's explosion "a politically charged act of vandalism."