Capt Francis Light’s statue at Fort Cornwallis splashed with red paint

GEORGE TOWN: Police have not ruled out the possibility that the statue of Capt Francis Light at Fort Cornwallis in Jalan Tun Syed Sheh Barakbah here, was splashed with red paint as a sign of protest by some quarters, as what had happened in several other countries.

Timur Laut police chief ACP Soffian Santong said he received a report on Tuesday from the operations manager of Fort Cornwallis, who was also in charge of managing the statue after he found it had been splashed with red paint.

“The operations manager was not sure who did it and neither did he suspect anyone because he had no enemies or tiff with anyone. There are closed-circuit television cameras (CCTVs) in the area, but they do not pan on the statue,” he said in a statement here yesterday.

He said initial police investigation did not rule out the possibility that the red paint incident on Capt Francis Light’s statue was related to incidents in other countries to express dissatisfaction with some foreign leaders during the first World War as well as the practice of slavery and the colonial system.

“Online checks also found cases of paint splashing on the George Washington Statue in New York on June 29, Hubert Lyautey in France on June 22 and Christopher Columbus in Massachusetts on June 24,” he said.

The case is being investigated under Section 427 of the Penal Code for causing damage through act of mischief.

Soffian advised members of the public with information regarding the incident to call investigating officer Insp Nurul Syaheera Hussin via 04-228 2222, or any police station nearby.