A MONUMENT commemorating the people killed by nazis in the Ukrainian city of Poltava has been vandalised.

The sculpture, known as The Grieving Mother, marks the spot where nazis killed thousands of Jewish and Soviet prisoners of war during the second world war. 

It had been daubed with swastikas and slogans including “Heil Hitler” and “Death to the Jews.” The face had its eyes sprayed with black paint and a “Hitler moustache” added.

Neonazism is on the rise in Ukraine with the far right Svoboda Party making gains in municipal politics. Its MP for Lvov, Mariana Batyuk, openly celebrated Adolf Hitler’s birthday last week, calling him a “great man” in a Facebook post, although she later claimed that her account had been hacked.

Also in Lvov, far-right nationalists celebrated the 75th anniversary of the formation of a Ukrainian division of the Waffen SS.

Local police have not commented on claims that they were on the scene when the vandalism occurred and said they were launching an investigation.