Anne Frank statue defaced with red paint for the second time
The Anne Frank statue on Merwedeplein in the south of Amsterdam has been defaced for the second time this month. This time, the statue, created by Jet Schepp, was "Free Gaza" and was daubed in red paint on the pedestal of the statue, referencing the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The hands of Anne Frank were also smeared in red paint, the local broadcaster AT5 reported Sunday morning.
According to the police, this act of vandalism was discovered by a passer-by on Sunday morning. This incident was "outrageous," the passer-by told AT5. "So the hands are also smeared. As if she had blood on her hands."
The Amsterdam police suspect that the statue was defaced overnight and informed that the municipality would remove the graffiti as soon as possible. The police have now launched an investigation into the repeated graffiti and are asking witnesses who know more about the incident to come forward.
The Anne Frank Foundation said it was horrified to learn of the defacement of the statue of Anne Frank on the Merwedeplein in Amsterdam-Zuid. "This defacement touches our hearts once again," stated Ronald Leopold, general director of the Anne Frank Foundation.
"The statue reminds us of a young girl, with ambitions and dreams. A girl who was murdered, simply because she was Jewish. The graffiti today is extra painful, on the day that Anne Frank was arrested, exactly 80 years ago today," said Leopold. It is not clear whether the graffiti is related to this. The police did say that they will include this in the investigation.
The statue was also defaced on July 9. Mayor Femke Halsema strongly condemned the defacing of the memorial, saying that no Palestinian has been helped by smearing the meaningful statue of Anne Frank. "Whoever it was, shame on you! There is no excuse for this," she stated.
