Czech police have arrested a man suspected of stealing an almost 800-year-old religious relic from a Catholic church and encasing it in concrete.

According to a police spokeswoman on Friday, the suspect admitted taking the skull, which is revered by believers as a relic of Saint Zdislava of Lemberk, from the Church of St Lawrence in the northern Czech town of Jablonne v Podjestedi on Tuesday.

Investigators used special equipment to confirm the skull was hidden inside a solid concrete block without damaging it. Art restorers were now working to remove the relic safely, police added.

The 35-year-old suspect told investigators he objected to the public display of human remains and had planned to throw the skull into a river and give it a private burial ceremony.

He is being investigated on suspicion of theft, property damage and disturbing public order, offences that can carry prison sentences of between two and eight years.