Vilnius  - Some 300 websites in the Baltic nation of Lithuania were targetted in a cyber assault reminiscent of attacks on computer networks in Estonia in 2007, local media reported on Monday.

The sites' regular content was blocked out by a red background with the communist hammer and sickle symbol.

"You, scum, have gone crazy," a message in Russian posted by hackers on Lithuanian websites read, according to Russian news sources.

The attacks shut down the websites of the national ethics body, the securities and exchange commission, the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party and local municipalities over the weekend. By Monday afternoon, most of sites were showing their regular content.

"One could call it a cyber attack against Lithuania," the Baltic nation's defence minister Juozas Olekas told journalists.

It was unclear where the attacks originated as hackers used proxy servers in Germany and Asia, allowing them to disguise their real physical location.

Lithuanian experts linked the attacks to the adoption of a law, banning the public display of the Soviet-era symbols during public demonstrations, a move which was criticized in Russia.

Bilateral relations between the two countries are poor.

Last week, Estonian television reported of appeals on Russian internet forums, calling for hackers to launch a large-scale attack on the websites of Latvian, Lithuanian, Estonian, and Ukrainian government institutions.

Estonia was hit by massive cyber attacks last year after authorities there decided to move a Red Army memorial from the centre of the capital Tallinn to a military cemetery.

This prompted NATO to create a cyber defence centre in the Estonian capital. (dpa)