Recent online postings that revealed a martyrs' park in Hubei province was downsized to make way for tennis courts has angered Internet users.

However, local officials maintained the graves of the heroes have not been disrespected.

A descendant of Chen Daochang, one of the 200 martyrs buried in the park, posted online on Tuesday that the memorial pavilion was demolished and the martyrs' remains were treated with levity.

Construction is under way to turn part of the martyrs' park in Jingshan county, Hubei province, into tennis courts.

"It's an insult to the deceased," the post said.

"All heroes' relics have been dealt with properly," an official with Jingshan county's civil affairs bureau was quoted as saying by Changjiang Daily yesterday.

According to the official, the graves of eight martyrs have been moved to the new site where eight memorial pillars will be erected later on. Remains of some other 200 unnamed heroes have been buried in front of the monument on the top of the mountain, the official said.

The head of the park reconstruction office confirmed that the martyrs park will be incorporated into a new tennis park and the memorial section will shrink to a small area on top of the mountain.

The tennis courts will be used during the 13th Hubei province's tennis tournament to be held in October this year.