GEORGE TOWN: A statue of the founder of George Town, Captain Francis Light, at Fort Cornwallis here was vandalised by unknown individuals recently.
The statue, which was erected in 1936 to honour his contributions to the state, was found splashed with red paint.
A staff working there told the New Straits Times that they found the statue defaced on Tuesday morning.
"I was here until Monday about 7pm and it was fine. We came the next day and found it splashed with red paint," he said.
Checks by New Straits Times found that the statue has been cleaned. However, some red paint marks are still visible.
It is understood that a report has been lodged over the incident.
Asked if footage from closed-circuit television cameras (CCTV) in the area have been reviewed in a bid to identify the perpetrator, the staff said the footage was unclear.
Fort Cornwallis has been closed temporarily to make way for conservation works at the site after the discovery of a cannon and a mortar, believed to be dated back 200 years during the era of King George III.
A Universiti Sains Malaysia team led by Centre for Global Archaeological Research director and archaeologist Professor Datuk Dr Mokhtar Saidin has also found other historical items including ammunition casings, live bullets, old laterite roads and Japanese lorry tracks.
Researchers were seen busy doing work some 100-metres away from the vandalised statue during NST's visit to the site today.
NST has attempted to reach northeast district police chief Assistant Commissioner Soffian Santong and is awaiting comments.