The statue of famous Romanian poet Mihai Eminescu from Galati, considered the oldest in the country, was vandalized once again, despite the surveillance cameras and the police officers patrolling the area.

Some may say that this has become a strange tradition in Galati, as the statue has been vandalized more than 30 times so far, especially around the poet’s anniversary. Mihai Eminescu was born on January 15, the day when the country also celebrates the National Culture Day.

Most recently, the statue was vandalized at the end of December last year, when someone stole the hand of the statue's muse.

The thieves seem to have something against this specific part of the statue. Thus, in the past two years, the authorities have been leaving the muse’s hand at its place only during official commemorations. In the rest of the time, the hand has been kept in a warehouse, next to other copies, local Monitorul de Galati reported. Unfortunately, the authorities’ desire to make the statue complete during winter holidays has attracted the thieves once again.

So far, the authorities haven’t managed to track down the thief or group of thieves. No one knows if it’s only one person or group of persons who keep stealing the hand of the statue’s muse, or if different people thought it’s fun to vandalize the statue. Unfortunately, the monument is suffering anyway due to weather conditions, being full of cracks.

Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Wikipedia; photo by Baditastefan)