THE STATUE of Molly Malone on Dublin's Suffolk Street has been vandalised a second time in the space of a week.
The sculpture was targeted some time between Tuesday and Wednesday last week when the chest area was daubed with what appeared to be black paint.
On Tuesday, new graffiti had appeared on the statue in what Dublin City Council dubbed an act of 'senseless vandalism'.
The wheelbarrow and plinth were also daubed with paint (Image: Sasko Lazarov / RollingNews.ie)Across the chest area, someone used green paint to write '7 years bad luck'.
Meanwhile, along the side of her famous wheelbarrow and on a plaque on the plinth bearing sculpture Jeanne Rynhart's name, the same substance was used to daub 'Good luck'.
Dublin City Council released footage on Wednesday of the statue being cleaned up to restore Molly to her former glory.
Poor aul Molly got some TLC this morning after the senseless vandalism that occurred on her recently. Thanks Eoghan for her Glow Up! #Dublin #MollyMalone pic.twitter.com/fadYuzQTxz
— Dublin City Council (@DubCityCouncil) August 23, 2023
According to Independent.ie, the council has no plans to put a barrier around the statue.
It was moved to its current position outside the former St Andrew's Church in 2014 to make way for the construction of new Luas tracks.
According to Visit Dublin, the city's official tourism information website, the statue is affectionately nicknamed The Tart with the Cart by locals.
A plaque bearing sculptor Jeanne Rynhart's name was also vandalised (Image: Sasko Lazarov / RollingNews.ie)