London, Feb 5 (IANS): The grave of German political philosopher and revolutionary socialist Karl Marx at Highgate Cemetery in London has been vandalized.

"Karl Marx's memorial has been vandalized! It looks like someone has had a go at it with a hammer," said a tweet by Highgate Cemetery.

"It's a Grade I-listed monument; this is no way to treat our heritage," the cemetery said, adding that it will repair the memorial "as far as possible" after the incident.

Marx, who lived from 1818 to 1883, wrote about revolutionary ideas related to class struggles, the flaws of capitalism and human labour.

Ian Dungavell, Chief Executive of the Friends of Highgate Cemetery Trust, told CNN that attacks on Marx's memorial were regular but not frequent.

According to him, the worst incident was in 1970 when an attempt was made to destroy the memorial using a pipe bomb.

Dungavell called the latest incident more upsetting because chunks of the white marble panel on the memorial were lost and the lead lettering was smashed.