Historic Bratislava statue repainted, reminds people of Smurfs
The statue was supposed to be renovated this year.
An 18th century statue in Bratislava's borough of Rača was painted over in white, blue and red colours by an unknown perpetrator. A similar blue colour also appeared on the nearby Saint Anne's Chapel.
According to Rača Mayor Michal Drotován, the Statue of St. Florian was painted before July 8, since a disgruntled resident drew attention to both statue and chapel on the website Odkaz pre Starostu (a message to the mayor) a day before, asking to repair the 'shoddy' work.
When pictures of the statue started to appear on social media, the borough and parish stated that they had not given consent to the change, nor had they known about it. The statue reminded people of the characters from the TV series Smurfs.
The borough is investigating who is behind the act. "We have several pieces of information significantly indicating who might have commissioned the work," says the mayor. If they do not reply and propose compensation, the borough will file a criminal complaint for damage to monuments and vandalism.
The statue should have been professionally renovated this year, a complete artistic restoration worth €17,000 already prepared. Now it will be necessary to make probes to determine the degree of damage and possibly prepare another solution.
The statue is the patron saint of firefighters. It was created in 1721 and is one of Bratislava's landmarks. Originally, it stood at another site in Rača, but after a fire in 1732 it was restored and moved to its current location on Pri Vinohradoch Street.
The saint is depicted as a Roman soldier who is pouring water. Until recently, the 170-centimetre tall statue and the pedestal were painted in a thick lime coating.
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