The mausoleum where the scant remains of DR Congo's fiery independence hero Patrice Lumumba are interred has been vandalised, the culture ministry said Tuesday.
A tooth is all that is left of the anti-colonialist icon and first prime minister after the country gained independence from Belgium in 1960.
"An act of vandalism took place on Monday November 18, 2024 at the mausoleum of the national hero Patrice Lumumba," the ministry said in a statement, calling it a "heinous act aimed at desecrating the burial place".
Culture Minister Yolande Elebe was unable to confirm to AFP whether the tooth -- considered a relic -- had been stolen.
"An inquiry is under way and we will have to wait for the results from the police to know more," she said.
The tooth was returned by Belgium in 2022 and interred during a solemn ceremony attended by President Felix Tshisekedi.
It was placed under heavy guard in a concrete mausoleum at the foot of a tower that is a symbol of the capital, Kinshasa.
Nationalist politician Lumumba became an anti-colonial icon when he gave a fiery speech against racism on independence day on June 30, 1960.
He then became Congo's first post-colonial prime minister.
But only a few months later, Lumumba was forced out by a coup fomented with the help of Belgium and the CIA, which also opposed the support he had requested from the Soviet Union.
He was shot dead in January 1961 at the age of 35 in mineral-rich southern Katanga province, which had seceded from the fledgling nation months earlier with Belgium's support.
His body was dissolved in acid but a Belgian police officer involved in the killing kept one of his teeth as a trophy.
The tooth was seized by Belgian authorities from the daughter of the policeman in 2016.
Belgium returned the relic to Lumumba's family during a ceremony in Brussels in 2022.
It was transported to the Democratic Republic of Congo the same year.