A Jewish group is asking the Ukrainian government to stop construction on the site of a grave containing the remains of some 26,000 victims of the Holocaust.

The Jewish community in Odessa says that a developer has begun building what it believes will be a shopping mall on the site of a burial ground.

When construction workers began digging they found bones, skulls and children’s toys, says Avrohom Wolf, the chief rabbi for Odessa and southern Ukraine.

Wolf says the builder has taken away all the remains it dug out and said he has no clue where to search for them.

On Wednesday, the group sent a letter to Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, asking her to intervene.