Mahatma Gandhi's statue vandalised in Sri Lanka

The Sri Lankan government has ordered an investigation into an incident in which several statues, including that of Mahatma Gandhi, were vandalised.

"It has been brought to the notice of the ministry that several important statues in the Batticaloa town (in eastern Sri Lanka) had been vandalised," Xinhua quoted the Sri Lankan foreign ministry as saying in a statement Saturday. 

"The Inspector General of Police has been instructed to carry out an immediate and thorough investigation into these incidents to identify motives and culprits behind these acts of vandalism," it added.

According to police, the attackers broke off the heads of the statues of Gandhi and Britain's Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scout movement.

Two other statues of local figures were also vandalised Thursday in what appeared to be a coordinated crime, police said.