Sarasota, Fla. (NewsRadio WFLA)-The "Unconditional Surrender" statue that stands near the intersection of North Gulfstream Avenue and Bayfront Drive in Sarasota was vandalized Monday.
Sarasota Police report the words #MeToo were spray painted in red along the left leg of the nurse. The red lettering covered the length of the nurse’s leg.
Officers searched the area for spray paint bottles,but none were found. Nothing else in the area was defaced or spray painted.
News Channel Eight Photographer Omar Dlegado, reports the owner of “Gorilla Kleen” in Sarasota, stepped up and has already removed the red graffiti from the nurse's leg for free!
Anyone with information on this case is asked to call the Sarasota Police Department Patrol Division at 941-954-7025 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers by calling 941-366-TIPS.
The vandalism comes after reports that, the sailor who kissed the nurse seen in the photo died Sunday. George Mendonsa was photographed kissing Greta Zimmer Friedman in New York City's Times Square in August of 1945, after it was announced that Japan had surrendered. The Providence Journal reports George Mendonsa died in Middletown. Friedman died in 2016. Funeral arrangement for Mendonsa are pending.
Photo credit: Sarasota Police Department and Omar A. Delgado News Channel Eight.
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