AGENCIES

The statue of India’s father of nation Mahatma Gandhi near the Indian Embassy in Washington DC has been vandalized with graffiti and spray painting by the protesters.

The vandalized statue of Gandhi, the design of which was created by Gautam Pal, has been covered and efforts are on clean up the site at the earliest. The sculpture of Mahatma Gandhi is cast in bronze as a statue to a height of 8 feet 8 inches.

The incident happened during the week of nationwide protests against the custodial killing of African-American George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25.

The Trump campaign termed the incident “very disappointing”, while US Ambassador to India Ken Juster apologised, saying sorry to see the desecration of the Gandhi statue.

“It’s disgraceful to see the defacing of the Gandhi statue in DC,” North Carolina Senator Tom Tillis said.

“We condemn this disrespectful act and are working with the relevant authorities and the Embassy of India to rectify the situation,” a state department spokesperson said.

“Very disappointing,” tweeted Kimberly Guilfoyle, advisor to Donald J Trump for President Inc. and National Chair of the Trump Victory Finance Committees.