A statue of 'The Little Mermaid' is seen, created by the sculptor Edvard Eriksen and modeled after his wife, Eline, with the Russian flag painted on the stone she sits on, in Langelinie, Copenhagen, Denmark March 2, 2023. Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix/via REUTERS
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - A Russian flag was discovered painted onto the base of Denmark's "The Little Mermaid" statue on Thursday in what police said was a "case of vandalism" at Copenhagen's most famous landmark and a popular tourist attraction.
It was not immediately known who was behind the incident, a police spokesperson said.
Denmark has been a vocal critic of Russia alongside other Western nations following last year's invasion of Ukraine.
The 110-year-old bronze statue depicts the little mermaid from 19th-century Danish author Hans Christian Andersen's tale of the same name, and is sat on a rock by a waterside promenade.
The white, blue and red stripes of the Russian flag were painted across the front of the stone.
(Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen, Johannes Gotfredsen-Birkebaek, Editing by Terje Solsvik and Raissa Kasolowsky)
