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The controversial statue of former IRA leader Seán Russell in Fairview, north Dublin is the latest piece of public artwork to be tampered with.
The base of the memorial to Russell in Fairview Park was painted in the colours of the rainbow flag, often used by the LGBT community and its allies, on Monday night. The paint has since been cleaned off.
Russell is frequently described as a Nazi collaborator. It is claimed he plotted with Hitler’s regime during the second World War, having met with then-Nazi foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop in 1940, supposedly to discuss assistance for the IRA.
It is not the first time the statue’s appearance has been altered since it was unveiled in 1951.
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Gardaí and Dublin City Council officials are investigating the latest incident.
Numerous local politicians, including Lord Mayor Tom Brabazon, have condemned the latest incident .
“This latest act is giving all the wrong signals. I just can’t understand what goes through people’s mind. It’s completely mindless and goes beyond my understanding,” Mr Brabazon said.
“Vandalism is not the way to go. There is a democratic way to make objections heard and that is through Dublin City Council. They can’t just take the law into their own hands. Every time statues, or indeed any type of public artwork, has to be cleaned by the local authority due to vandalism, it costs the taxpayer money.
“This is money that the Council could use for funding sports facilities for local residents but they doesn’t seem to enter these thugs’ heads. Public artwork should not be used for any political messages.”
However, Independent councillors Christy Burke and Mannix Flynn, said no political message should be taken from the colours painted on the statue.
“The vandalism is the highest act of stupidity and they are nothing more than half-wits. It is deplored by us. This isn’t cool and there seems to be a lack of parenting,” Mr Flynn said.
“The vandalism obviously took a large amount of time to carry out and possibly 10 to 12 thugs were involved.”
Cllr Flynn currently has a motion before the Council arts section, requesting information as to whether the Russell statue is to remain in place.
Meanwhile, a Council spokesperson said: “Dublin City Council has a duty of care for all our public sculptures and statues. The Council is taking immediate action to remove the paint from the statue and plinth.”
Security cameras located in the area are to be examined by gardaí and DCC.
Dublin sculpture
Parts of the Tree of Life, located at an entrance to St Anne’s Park in Raheny, north Dublin, were damaged by fire in the early hours of Monday morning.
Work has begun on restoring the wooden sculpture.
A statue of the singer Luke Kelly on Sheriff Street has been repeatedly daubed with paint.
Earlier this month Taoiseach Leo Varadkar referenced the Russell statue when asked on RTÉ 2FM about the pulling down of statues of historical figures in Britain who profited from the slave trade.
“We have a few of our own statues we may need to take down,” he said.
However, he stressed that any statues that come down should be taken down legally.
Gardaí in Clontarf are appealing to members of the public to contact them with any information they may have on 01-6664800.