‘Free Hong Kong’: Denmark’s iconic Little Mermaid statue sprayed with protest graffiti (PHOTO)

Denmark’s famous ‘Little Mermaid’ sculpture in Copenhagen Harbour has been defaced with slogans from the ongoing protests in Hong Kong.

“Free Hong Kong” was scrawled onto the base of the statue in both large red letters and smaller white script overnight Sunday. The slogan has been frequently used by anti-government demonstrators in Hong Kong in protests which started in March 2019.

Copenhagen Police have cordoned off the sculpture and an investigation into the graffiti is underway, with officers checking CCTV footage for any suspects and bringing in trained dogs to help search for materials that might have been used by the arsonists.

The 107-year-old bronze statue is an enormous tourist draw, but is clearly not universally popular, suffering several arson attacks over the years. The mermaid has lost its head twice and an arm once. In 2003, vandals used explosives to blow the wistful figure off its perch entirely, sending the mermaid right into the water.

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