RIGA, May 6 (LETA) - The southern Latvian municipality of Bauska has started dismantling monuments erected during the period of Soviet occupation and unrelated to burials, Aivars Okmanis, chairman of Bauska Regional Council, told LETA. 

The local authority is not planning to remove memorials at war cemeteries but has started to dismantle Soviet-era monuments unrelated to burial places. 

"The local authority agreed the plans with land owners and carried them out without unnecessary fuss. We ask land owners permission to remove the monuments or call on the land owners to do it themselves,"  said Okmanis. 

Earlier, Ogre municipality took a similar decision and removed the first Soviet-era monument at the beginning of April. Meanwhile, Jelgava municipality has decided to dismantle three monuments. Recently, calls have also been made for the removal of a large monument to the Soviet army in Pardaugava, Riga.