as members of Clan na Gael and Cumann na mBan. The event was monitored by the Garda Special Branch. The statue has since been subject to vandalism; In May 1952 paint was smeared on the statue and in July 1953, the raised right arm was broken off by right-wing radicals, who explained the vandalism by claiming the arm had been raised in a communist salute rather than oratorical pose. The damaged arm was replaced posed downward instead of raised. The 31 December 2004 attack saw the decapitation of the memorial by an unnamed group, described by the Sunday Independent as anti-fascist. The memorial's right forearm was also removed. A statement issued to the press in justification of the vandalism read (verbatim): Ógra Shinn Féin condemned the vandalism saying "Those who carried it out clearly know very little about Seán Russell or what he stood for." After the missing pieces of the memorial proved difficult to retrieve, a spokesman for The National Graves Association announced that the memorial to Seán Russell would be rebuilt in more permanent bronze to deter vandals. In May 2009, the plinth was cleaned and the new bronze was erected. Allegedly, the new statue has alarms to detect attempted vandalism, as well as a GPS tracker. According to historian Gerard Shannon, the original pieces of the statue were eventually recovered and reconstructed in Cashel folk village in Cashel, County Tipperary, where it stands as a duplicate. On 9 July 2009, the plinth of the memorial was again vandalised with graffiti proclaiming Russell to have been a Nazi. In June 2020, Leo Varadkar suggested that the statue of Seán Russell may need to be removed because of his collaboration with the Nazis. Later, on 23 June 2020 the base of the statue was painted in the colours of the Rainbow flag. The paint was later removed. Fianna Fail Lord Mayor Tom Brabazon condemned the painting of the base. See also Irish Republican Army – Abwehr collaboration in World War II Plan Kathleen Footnotes References Sources Culleton, Brendan & Maldea, Irina, Seamróg agus Swastica (English: Shamrock & Swastika), Dublin (Akajava Films), 2002. (Broadcast on TG4, 24 January 2002). Hanley, Brian, The IRA. 1926–1936, Dublin (Four Courts Press), 2002. Terence O'Reilly, Hitler's Irishmen, (Mercier Press), 2008 Mark M. Hull, Irish Secrets. German Espionage in Wartime Ireland 1939–1945 2003. Enno Stephan, Spies in Ireland 1963. (reprint) Carolle J. Carter, The Shamrock