Statue Of Kissing Sailor Vandalized With '#MeToo' After Veteran's Death :-(
A statue replicating the iconic World War II photo of a sailor kissing a nurse was found spray painted with the Me Too movement’s hashtag in Sarasota, Florida, on Monday, authorities said.
Sarasota police discovered the red-paint vandalism, which left ”#MeToo” scrawled along the nurse’s leg, early Tuesday morning. Authorities believe it was marked one day after the Navy war veteran who was famously snapped stealing the kiss in 1945 died at the age of 95.
The statue, called Unconditional Surrender, had only known two prior vandalism instances, but nothing resembling this same message, police spokeswoman Genevieve Judge told HuffPost. One April Fools Day instance saw someone put what looked like gum beneath the nurse’s shoe, she said.
By late Tuesday morning, cleaning crews had successfully removed the graffiti, the city said.
No arrests have been made and police said there was no surveillance video in the area that would have captured the incident, which is believed to have occurred between the mid-afternoon and evening hours of Monday.
The 25-foot statue located along the city’s bay depicts sailor George Mendonsa embracing Greta Zimmer Friedman, a dental assistant in a nurse’s uniform, following news of Japan’s surrender in World War II.
