The famous Little Mermaid statue, one of Denmark’s biggest tourist sites, has been vandalised and painted in the colours of the Russian flag.
The white, red and blue stripes of the Russian flag were painted on the rocks on which she sits.
Copenhagen police were at the scene on Thursday where they recorded “a case of vandalism” against the statue of Hans Christian Andersen’s heroine.
“Investigations have been carried out in the area in order to find traces,” police said.
An investigation has been opened into the act, an apparent sign of support for Moscow during the war in Ukraine.
Tourists photographed the 1.65m tall bronze statue at the entrance to Copenhagen harbour, where it has been attacked previously.
It was not known when the vandalism occurred. No one has admitted responsibility.
The Little Mermaid, inspired by a character in Andersen’s 1837 fairy-tale of the same name, is a 175kg statue by sculptor Edvard Eriksen.
The statue is on a relatively secluded waterfront promenade but has been vandalised numerous times over the years — including when the mermaid's head was stolen in 1964 and 1998, as well as when an arm was cut off in 1984.
In 1998, vandals cut off its head again, but it was later returned, before the statue was blown up in 2003.
It has been tagged and painted many times, most recently in 2020 with the inscription “Racist fish”.
