Jakarta – Hundreds of angry villagers in Indonesia's Central Java province went on the rampage Friday and attacked the residences of two village chiefs, burning one to the ground, the state Antara News Agency said.

The inhabitants of the first village, Kalisegoro, were angered that their village chief Sugiono had failed to honor a promise to return their land, and had sold it instead, Antara said.

The mob managed to damage Sugiono's two-storey house, which was empty but for one maid at the time of the attack, but security forces managed to prevent them from burning the house down. The maid escaped uninjured and no arrests were reported.

In Rowosari village Friday, a separate mob attacked the house of 65-year-old village chief and burned it to the ground. The village chief was accused of keeping a "buto ijo," a small elf-like spirit that obtains wealth for its human master.