Copenhagen (AFP)

The Little Mermaid in Copenhagen, Denmark's most famous monument, has been "vandalized", Danish police announced on Friday.

"The Little Mermaid was vandalized this morning before 9:00 am. An unknown person entered the words" Racist Fish "(in English on its base). We have opened an investigation," AFP said. Copenhagen police.

For Ane Grum-Schwensen, specialist in the work of Hans Christian Andersen, who wrote this story, interviewed by public television TV2, the tale of the Little Mermaid does not contain racist allusions.

In the wake of anti-racist demonstrations in the world following the death of the American George Floyd, the monuments and statues linked to the colonial history of many countries in the world are found at the center of a memory controversy.

In recent weeks, several statues have been the subject of vandalism in Denmark, including that of the Danish missionary in Greenland, Hans Egede, who participated in the colonization of the Arctic island in the 18th century, but also of Mahatma Gandhi or of the Danish king Christian IV.

The Little Mermaid has already been vandalized several times; in particular, his head was twice stolen (in 1964 and in 1998), one of his arms was also cut in 1984.

In January, the message "Free Hong Kong" was painted on its rock, in reference to the protest movement launched in 2019 against the central government in Beijing.

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