Dublin’s most famous statue, Molly Malone, has been vandalised.
The famous landmark, the chest area on which has become worn down after being touched by thousands of tourists, had black paint thrown on it on Tuesday night.
A Dublin City Council spokesman said the statue will be cleaned “as soon as possible” but gave no date for when this would happen.
The statue, designed by sculptor Jeanne Rynhart, is now located on Suffolk Street and was first unveiled in 1988 to mark Dublin’s millennium. It has since become a must-see attraction for many visitors to Dublin. It was previously vandalised in 2014 when red paint was thrown over the statue after it was moved the short distance from its original location at the bottom of Grafton Street to a spot outside St Andrew’s Church.
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Tourists continue to be photographed beside the statue despite the vandalism. Some were not even aware it had been vandalised as the black paint matches Molly Malone’s outfit.