In the incident described by the authorities in the Croatian coastal town of Split as “savage vandalism”, police said a 65-year old man had to be hospitalised after dislodging a bust of Rade Končar, the celebrated leader of the resistance to Croatia’s pro-Nazi Ustasha regime during the Second World War.

Končar, who died aged 31, was one of a group of 25 partisans executed by the Italian army in 1942.

Croatian centrist politician Krešo Beljak noted approvingly on Twitter: “Rade Končar breaks the legs of fascists 76 years after they shot him.”