Two divers have been fined for removing historic artefacts from scuttled warships in the Scapa Flow.

Robert Infante, 48, and Gordon Meek, 67, pleaded guilty to illegally carrying out work on a protected monument during a hearing at Kirkwall Sheriff Court on Tuesday.

They removed items including a lamp and a lantern frame from German vessels which were sunk to the bottom of the Scapa Flow, off Orkney, in 1919.

They included the battleships SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm and SMS Konig, which participated in the largest naval conflict of the First World War, the Battle of Jutland.

Meek, of Glasgow, and Infante, of New Jersey, US, used diving gear to retrieve the artefacts from wrecks designated as scheduled monuments between October 8 and 12, 2012.

The pair were fined £18,000 each.

It is believed to be the first conviction of its kind under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act (1979).

Following the hearing, Andrew Laing, procurator fiscal for the Highlands and Islands, said: "For a number of decades now Scapa Flow has been one of Europe's top attractions for sports divers with the wrecks being of great significance to our heritage and the local community.

"They have lain on the sea bed for nearly 100 years and the vast majority of those visiting have treated them with the respect they deserve.

"It is vitally important that there are laws in place to protect such important sites and as with this case where there is sufficient evidence of a crime and if it is appropriate and in the public interest to do so, we will prosecute."

Two other men, John Thornton, of Kirkwall, and Simon Ball, of Poole, Dorset, pleaded not guilty and were discharged.

A total of 74 vessels from the German High Seas Fleet were scuttled or beached in the Scapa Flow following the end of the First World War.

During the conflict, it was used as a base by the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet.