Tombstones with Armenian writing have been removed during renovation works nearby the Avlabari neighborhood of Georgia’s capital city of Tbilisi, AliQ Media reported. These tombstones were primarily used on sidewalks—as handles.

The construction company carrying out the renovation expressed readiness to hand over these tombstones, and some of them have been saved from becoming construction waste and been taken to the Khojivank pantheon of Armenian writers and public figures, in Tbilisi.

Tbilisi Armenian public figure Levon Chidilyan said these are Khojivank gravestones that were removed from the pantheon in the 1930s and were used as building materials.

He added, however, that this is not the first time that Armenian traces are found during renovation works in the capital city of Georgia.