George Floyd‘s statue was defaced at the Union Square in New York City on Saturday, according to US media reports citing law enforcement officials. The news comes hours after it was installed in the area.

In photos posted on multiple social media handles, a splash of what looks like gray paint can be seen across the length of the statue, which was first unveiled in Brooklyn’s East Flatbush on Juneteenth.

According to law enforcement officials, the structure was vandalised around 10 am on Saturday. 

Earlier this year in June, the statue was given a similar treatment and was marked with a logo of a white supremacist group along with some black paint. At the time, the statue was erect in Brooklyn. The incident happened nearly one year after Floyd, an African American, was killed by Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, on May 25, 2020.

Chris Carnabuci, the creator of the statue, told New York Times earlier that the structure was repainted before being transported to New York’s Union Square.

The statue of George Floyd is one of three structures erected in the area. Prominent civil rights and a lawmaker from Georgia John Lewis’s statue and Breonna Taylor’s statues have also been erected, however, the other two were not defaced.

A mural honouring George Floyd erected at Summit and Lagrange in Toledo was reportedly struck down by lightning and reduced to rubble, earlier this year in July. 

Chauvin was charged with second-degree manslaughter, third-degree murder, violation of civil rights, made to register as a predatory offender and banned from owning any firearms for life among other charges.

Chauvin was convicted of the murder of George Floyd and sentenced to over 22 years of jail time. He has appealed against the conviction and said the jury trial should not have taken place in Minneapolis, Minnesota.