Tallinn  - Three young Estonian men were handed suspended prison sentences in the south-eastern Estonian town of Voru on Thursday after they admitted desecrating what they took to be a Communist monument in the local cemetery in December 2008.

The three self-appointed patriots took offence at the presence of the monument and daubed it in the blue, white and black colours of the Estonian flag.

There was just one problem - the monument, called the Common Grave of Terror Victims, was actually dedicated to the victims of fascism.

"The suspects regretted their offence. They said they committed the offence in a state of extreme alcoholic intoxication and painted the monument because they thought it was devoted to Communism," Meelis Sarapuu of the Voru prosecutor's office said.

Marko Brauer, Indrek Kivi and Ove Jogeda were given suspended prison terms of between two and three months and put on probation for 18 months. They will also have to pay around 400 dollars, the cost of cleaning the monument.

Estonia regained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 after half a century of occupation.

Communist monuments are a contentious issue in Estonia, which has a large Russian minority. Riots broke out in the capital, Tallinn, in April 2007 when the authorities moved a Soviet-era war grave from the centre of the city to a military cemetery. (dpa)