Czech police have arrested a man suspected of stealing religious relics of about 800 years from a Catholic church and enclosing them in concrete.
According to a police spokesman on Friday, the suspect confessed to taking the skull, which is revered by believers as a relic of Saint Zdislava of Lemberk, from the Church of St Lawrence in the northern Czech town of Jablonne v Podjestedi on Tuesday.
Investigators used special equipment to confirm the skull was hidden inside a solid concrete beam without damaging it. Art restorers were now working to safely remove the remains, police added.
The 35-year-old suspect told investigators that he objected to the public display of human remains and had planned to throw the skull into a river and hold a private burial ceremony.
He is being investigated on suspicion of theft, damage to property and disturbing public order, crimes that can carry between two and eight years in prison.
