Protesters tear down Lenin statue

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KIEV, Ukraine, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Police have charged activists who dismantled a statue of communist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin in the Sumy region of Ukraine, officials said.

The group of Liberty party activists said they pulled down the statue because Lenin's communist ideals have no place in modern Ukraine, RIA Novosti reported.

"There is no place for communist symbols and ideology in European Ukraine and if the authorities cannot get rid of them, we will do it ourselves," protest leader Ihor Miroshnichenko said.

Police said Miroshnichenko climbed the statue in the town of Akhtyrka, tied a rope around the head and then a truck proceeded to pull down the statue.

The group faces charged of hooliganism, RIA Novosti said Saturday.