'Absolutely nothing' has been done to protect the Luke Kelly statue in Dublin from vandalism, locals say.
The marble bust on Guild Street was vandalised with blue spray paint yesterday evening - the seventh time it has been vandalised since it was unveiled in January 2019.
Gardaí are investigating the latest incident, which comes less than a month after both statues of the Dubliner in the capital were vandalised on the same night.
Mark Fay from the Northwall Community Association said locals are fed up with the situation.
His group is rejecting calls for the statue to be moved, saying authorities should now act to protect the statue in its current location - either through a protective railing or by raising the statue's plinth.
Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast after the latest incident, Mr Fay said: "The reaction is anger. It's frustration. At the same time... it's not unexpected. This has now been flagged and well publicised."
He said the location was chosen because the musician was born in the area, and the open design was aimed at giving the people back to the people.
However, he said: "When this kind of thing happens, there's a view goes out online and that... 'why did you put it there in the first place, they're only scumbags down there'. That's a regular thing that the community gets.
"[But] from what we can ascertain, most if not all the guys who have done the damage here aren't local. This isn't Sheriff Street kids."
Mr Fay suggested that the location the statue is in "couldn't be any more visible" - but there's a lack of cameras covering the statue, despite plenty of CCTV in the area.
He said: "There's been nothing done... absolutely nothing. There's no specific camera up there.
"Are you going to keep €250-300 to get it cleaned, which has probably cost around three grand in total now?"
