Bloody hands and more: Vandals target Anne Frank statue in Amsterdam with 'Free Gaza' slogan

Anne Frank's statue in Netherlands' Amsterdam has been defaced with pro-Palestinian graffiti. Anne Frank, a German born Jewish girl killed by Nazis during the World War II, is known for her account of hiding from the Nazi occupiers.

Statue defaced

As per images being widely shared on Elon Musk's social media platform X (formerly Twitter) show that Anne Frank's statue has been spray-painted with the slogan "Free Gaza". Additionally, using a red spray-paint, desecrators painted the statue's hands red, apparently to signify blood.

The local police, as per an AFP report, have opened an investigation into the latest incident of defacement, which happened sometime during Saturday night and Sunday morning. A suspect is yet to be identified.

AFP reports that this is the second time that the statue of Anne Frank — one of the world's most recognisable victims of the Holocaust — has been targeted by the pro-Palestine movement.

Previously, it was vandalized on July 9, following which the Amsterdam municipality called for increased protection of the site with video surveillance cameras and nighttime lighting.

Who is Anne Frank?

Anne Frank, who's an icon of the Dutch Jewish community, died aged 16 in a Nazi concentration camp in 1945. Her diary is one of the most influential accounts of the Holocaust, in which tens of thousands of the country's 140,000 Jewish population were wiped by the Nazi German occupation.

The statue that has been defaced is located in Merwedeplein, near the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam — now a museum dedicated to her story.

Frank, along with her family, took refuge at this house for two years before being captured by the Nazis in 1944. After being captured, the family was sent to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

(With inputs from agencies)