WWII ‘Kissing Sailor’ Statue Spray Painted With #MeToo After Veteran George Mendonsa’s Death
It was defaced a day after the death of the veteran who inspired the statue.
Mike Blake/Reuters
A statue commemorating the famous kiss between a soldier and a nurse at the end of World War II was defaced with #MeToo graffiti just days after the death of the veteran who inspired it, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Authorities in Sarasota, Florida, said that their “Unconditional Surrender” statue—based off the iconic Times Square photo of the kiss—was vandalized early Tuesday morning. Photos of the statue show that the nurse’s leg is now covered in red spray paint reading #MeToo. There are currently no suspects. The vandalism comes just two days after the veteran in the photo, George Mendonsa, died at the age of 95. The nurse, dental assistant Greta Zimmer Friedman, died in 2016. The pair had never met before the kiss, and Friedman had previously described it as not romantic.
At approximately 12:53 am, our Officers were dispatched to the intersection of N Gulfstream Ave & Bayfront Dr reference to an unknown individual spray painting ‘# MeToo’ on the Unconditional Surrender statue. Additional information is at https://t.co/gv10lGhcja pic.twitter.com/JakU8aI7QY
— SarasotaPD (@SarasotaPD) February 19, 2019
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