JOHANNESBURG 

Police in South Africa said Wednesday they are investigating murder of three Egyptian Coptic monks who were killed inside a monastery east of the capital Pretoria.

The Coptic Orthodox Church of South Africa said in a Facebook statement on Tuesday that three of their monks were subjected to "criminal assault." One of the three monks killed was a representative of the Coptic Diocese of South Africa, it added.

Police said the three monks had stab wounds, and they are currently investigating the murder.

South Africa has one of the highest incidents of violent crime in the world.

‘‘We are saddened to hear the horrific killing of monks at a Coptic monastery in South Africa. It should not be forgotten that recently in our country, monks in a ministry were brutally killed in the same way,’’ said Abune Henok, archbishop of Addis Ababa Orthodox Diocese in Ethiopia.