THE ICONIC statue of singer Luke Kelly has been defaced by vandals overnight.
The statue of the Dubliners musician, which is located on Sheriff street close to where Mr Kelly grew up, was erected in his honour in January 2019, on the 35th anniversary of his death.
Despite being just a year old, this is the second time the statue has been targeted by vandals.
In June, the inner city statue was daubed with black spraypaint to make a crude pair of sunglasses, drawing fury from locals who condemned the mockery of a Dublin legend.
Despite not being surprised, I’m outrageously angry about this https://t.co/wMHEKU9FcO
— Susan Daly (@BiddyEarly) June 25, 2019
Last night the statue was targeted yet again, as vandals sprayed black paint in the shape of glasses around the eyes and marks on the musician's cheeks and nose.
Luke Kelly statue defaced again #LukeKelly pic.twitter.com/gyG7YRNWay
— FM104 (@FM104) January 14, 2020
The vandalism is believed to have taken place at approximately 7pm last night, but Dublin quickly got to work to put it right, and specialist cleaners and the original artist have managed to undo the damage as of this morning.
The mindless vandalism has again drawn criticism from Irish people, with calls for CCTV to be set up in the area to deter future incidences.
"Surely there's cctv footage of the culprit(s)?" one person wrote on Twitter.
"If not a camera needs to be installed to deter future vandals. This is disgraceful, Luke Kelly is a national treasure who was taken too young by illness. Shame on those responsible."
Many agreed with the sentiment, with one man saying he was "disgusted" to hear of the damage done to the statue.
"Luke was imo [in my opinion] not only Ireland's greatest ever singer but one of the best the world has known," he said.
"He was also a man of the people and a character truly loved by his generation. This was a mindless act of a moron".
Luke Kelly was born in Dublin in 1940. He was one of the founding members of The Dubliners and quickly rose to prominence in the folk and traditional music scene.
He died in 1984 at the age of 43.
