KIEV, June 30 (RIA Novosti) - A statue of Vladimir Lenin has been damaged by a group of suspected nationalists in the Ukrainian capital, police said on Tuesday.

Five people have been detained on suspicion of criminal damage, a spokesman said.

"They climbed on a ladder and broke Lenin's face and arm with a hammer," a journalist said, adding that those who carried out the attack were thought to be members of the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists (KUN) - a right-wing nationalist party.

However, police have not made any comment on the report.

Ukrainian nationalist groups have demanded the monument be removed from central Kiev. However, the country's left-wing parties have objected to the move.

Numerous Lenin statues were torn down in Russia and former Soviet republics following the collapse of the U.S.S.R., but many remain, with each large town or city usually boasting at least one.