Police in the northern city of Szczecin are investigating the conduct of road workers after human bones were discovered near the village of Pustkowo.

Earlier this week, a  member of the public reported to the police that bones were littered along a road currently being built through woodland on the fringe of Pustkowo.

“Every 10 to 15 metres, over a stretch of about 150 metres, long bones lay by the road,” Marek Luczak of the Szczecin police informed Polish daily Rzeczpospolita.

“With absolute certainly they are German soldiers,” he added, “because the remains of uniforms lay near the bones.”

Belts, gas masks, holsters and bandoliers were amongst the items discovered at the site. It is believed that the soldiers had been buried in a mass grave, but at present it is unclear how many, or how long the bones had lain in the open.

When questioned by the police, the contractors for the road-building project distanced themselves from the revelations.

“I am shocked,” Marek Wlodarczyk of Hades building firm told Rzceczpospolita. “No such information was relayed to us from the construction site. I must clarify this.”

Meanwhile, road workers on site told the police that they had only found the bones on Monday, the very same day that the member of the public had reported the matter.

If prosecutors find that the bones have been incorrectly treated, sentences of up to two years can be meted out for desecration. (nh)