Nehasice - The bronze plates stolen from the gravestones in the Theresienstadt Memorial (Terezín in Czech) last week were found in a metal salvage center in Nehasice in the Louny region, some 50 km from Theresienstadt. All of the plates are, however, broken apart.

Not usable any more

"The police reported to us they had found 580 bronze plates, which is most of the plates from the 800 lost ones," chief of Terezín Memorial´s Technical Department Stanislav Krejný said to Czech daily Mladá fronta DNES.

Read more: Over 300 Jewish graves desecrated in Theresienstadt

The Terezín Memorial cannot use the damaged plates any more. The damage is estimated up to 2.5 million CZK.

The Memorial is planning to replace the bronze plates with a cheaper version made of resin to stop attracting the thieves.

The replacement should be done by 18 May, which is a day commemorating the Nazi persecution victims of Nazi.

Thieves still on the run

The police has not discovered anything about the perpetrators yet.

From Monday a security agency Dora has been securing the Terezín Memorial premises free of charge, based on an agreement between the Memorial, Ministtry of Culture and private sponsors.

The Ministry of Culture and the Terezín Memorial are to seek a new temporary solution soon. By the end of the year the Memorial will have been secured by a camera system.