Lithuania outraged by Chinese tourist's removal of HK cross

Lithuania officials have condemned the actions of a Chinese tourist who removed a cross expressing support for the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement from the Baltic country's top religious heritage site.

In a video that came to the Lithuanian public's attention over the weekend, a woman is seen taking the wooden cross from its place at the Hill of Crosses, a pilgrimage site adorned with tens of thousands of crosses.

"We have done a good thing today. Our motherland is great," the woman is heard saying in the video, which was originally posted on Instagram in November, after she threw the cross away.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius condemned the woman's action in a tweet that called it a "shameful, disgraceful act of vandalism" and said such behaviour "can't and won't be tolerated".

The incident does not seem to be isolated. A photo posted online shows graffiti on another cross dated later in November. The graffiti read, "Hope all cockroaches soon rest in peace. Hope HK can return to peace."