Bulgarian police detained two German citizens and a Bulgarian military officer on charges of stealing a World War 2 Maybach tank and attempted theft of another tank.

The three were arrested while trying to steal a second tank, Hristo Tinev, spokesperson of the military prosecution said.

The first tank disappeared between October and November 2007 and was still missing. According to preliminary data, it has been exported, but the prosecution was still trying to find out through which border, Tinev said.

According to experts, the tanks were unfit for combat, but could be of antiquarian value.

Both tanks were used in World War 2 and later dug in the ground at the Bulgarian-Turkish border to serve as firing points. The three detained, hired Roma people to dig the tanks out, Focus said. Most probably the first tank was transported on a cargo vehicle.

Tinev said that the stealing probably resulted from TV report on the machines that stated that only few such machines have left in the world.

Local Standart newspaper said that the detained wanted to sell the tanks to German collectors.

Dimitar Babadjanov, mayor of the village Lesovo, where the tanks were located, said that no one guarded the tanks. Local people did not even know the number of such firing points in the region, but they were placed along the whole border between Svilengrad and the Black Sea coast.

National Museum of History director Bozhidar Dimitrov said that the tanks were the oldest German tanks, which took part in World War 2 and were precious. They were traded at 50 000 euro. Several years ago Dimitrov's counterpart from the military history museum in Munich offered him one million euro for a Maybach tank.

If found guilty, the three could be sentenced to three to 15 years in prison.