Dutch royal statue defaced; Brabant freedom group takes responsibility

The statue of Willem van Oranje at the Walkaway college of the same name was vandalized with red paint on Sunday. Kantocigno, a relatively unknown Brabant freedom group, took responsibility for the vandalism. In a press release Kantocigno states that they are fighting for an independent Brabant and started a campaign against symbols that have no place there. According to the activists, "there is blood on the hands of Willem van Oranje". They also claim he is "one of the executioners of the looting and massacres that took place on Brabant territory". The Willem van Oranje College will mostly ignore the vandalism. "To these kinds of ridiculous things we should pay as little attention as possible, Leen van Duij, chairman of the school's executive board, said to Omroep Brabant. "We are cleaning the statue and going on with the day. There are more important things in the Netherlands to keep us busy." Willem van Oranje is a distant ancestor of the Dutch royal family. He is widely seen as the man who founded the Netherlands as it is today and is often called the father of the nation.

Willem van Oranje is weer schoon #waalwijk #OB @omroepbrabant pic.twitter.com/i8h3pwJJNX

— Noël van Hooft (Omroep Brabant) (@NoelvanHooft) March 21, 2016