The World’s Most Persecuted Artwork: Why Is the Little Mermaid Under Attack?

Copenhagen’s famous Little Mermaid may be history’s most abused sculpture. The waterfront fairy-tale figure has had her head sawn off twice, an arm removed, been blown up with dynamite and dumped into the sea, and splashed with paint. Each stunt makes international headlines, turning the bronze statue into a megaphone for other people’s causes.

Since her creation over a century ago, she has been cast as a feminist icon, political slogan and even a “racist fish” during Black Lives Matter protests. Activists put her in a burqa to protest Denmark’s immigration policies; animal-rights campaigners painted her blood-red for whales. Her original parts have long been replaced by replicas, but despite repeated vandalism, she always returns to her rock—enduring as Denmark’s resilient, unlikely symbol.

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