Marcin Bielecki/PAP

Police in northern Poland have arrested two men suspected of killing hundreds of cormorant chicks by destroying over a hundred nests on an island on Lake Tonowskie near Znin.

According to the Polish Society for Nature Protection, which reported the killings, the nests were destroyed between April 10 and 16.

The men, aged 53 and 54, face prison terms of up to five years, if found guilty.

The cormorant is a protected species in Poland.