The city of Charleroi plans to lodge a complaint, confirming on Wednesday that its Spirou statue, located on the esplanade of the Charleroi train station, has been vandalised.
The statue is located opposite Charleroi Central Station. It depicts the famous comic strip character Spirou, with his arm raised and hand open. On Tuesday, vandals manipulated the hand, contorting it to create the impression of a Nazi salute.
On Tuesday, city workers tried, unsuccessfully, to reposition the hand. However, they found that it could not be returned to its original state without fear of further tampering or theft. The town therefore decided to contact the sculptor to discuss its restoration.
This is not the first time statues of comic strip characters have been targeted by vandals in Charleroi. A few months ago, the city's Gaston la Gaffe statue was hit by a series of successive deteriorations.
