Culture Minister disgusted by vandalism: 'There is no bravery in throwing paint at a statue'

Gardai are examining footage from security cameras in the vicinity of St Stephen's Green to try to identify who was responsible for throwing paint over the Haunting Soldier sculpture.

The six metre high memorial to the returning soldiers of World War One has been on loan to Ireland as part of the centenary events commemorating the end of the conflict and has drawn huge numbers of visitors.

Shocked park staff discovered this morning that it had been extensively sprayed with red paint some time during the night.

A team of cleaners got to work on it and had almost all the paint removed by lunchtime but some further cleaning will have to be carried out before the sculpture is removed this Sunday evening for its return to the UK.

There is no CCTV in the park but Gardai are hopeful that security cameras attached to surrounding buildings may have captured images of whoever was responsible for the attack scaling the fencing to enter as the gates are closed at night.

The arrival of the sculpture earlier this month was widely welcomed as an acknowledgement of the estimated 300,000 Irishmen who served with the British forces in World War One and the many thousands - up to 49,000 - who died.

But while it was designed to depict the strain carried by a returning soldier rather than to glorify the war, some opponents criticised the decision to host it in St Stephen's Green, a key location in the War of Independence against Britain.

OPW chief park superintendent Margaret Gormley asked people to understand the purpose of the sculpture, and that St Stephen's Green was home to memorials to 1916 and the Boer War alike.

We tell all history within the context of St Stephen's Green," she said.

Culture and Heritage Minister Josepha Madigan said she was "disgusted" by the attack. "There is no bravery in throwing paint at a statue in the middle of the night," she said.

Minister of State for the OPW Kevin Boxer Moran, who visited the scene to thank staff for their swift response in getting the sculpture cleaned, said he hoped it would be appreciated in its last few days in Dublin. "It is a moving tribute to the tragedy of what was World War One and should be respected," he said.