Lionel Messi's statue vandalised yet again in Argentina

What's the story?

For the second time in a year, a statue of Lionel Messi in Argentina has been vandalised and completely destroyed. The bronze statue of the Argentine forward was cut off at the ankles and the rest of the statue was found on its side next to the pedestal.

The statue is situated on the banks of the river La Plata which is in the district of Puerto Madero in the capital city of Buenos Aires.

Local police are investigating the incident and are on the lookout for the perpetrators.

Leo Messi's statue in Puerto Madero has been vandalised again. pic.twitter.com/LsLsaOlr67

— Mootaz Chehade (@MHChehade) December 3, 2017

In case you didn't know...

This is not the first time Messi's statue has been vandalised. In January this year, the same statue was vandalised by angry Argentina fans who cut the statue in half.

That statue had been unveiled just a few days after Chile beat Argentina in the Copa America final and the Barcelona star had announced his international retirement.

The heart of the matter

The statue was unveiled by mayor Horacio Rodriguez Larreta back in 2016 in a bid to convince Messi to come out of what was considered a premature retirement.

Messi soon reversed his decision to retire and returned to the squad to help La Albiceleste qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

Lionel Messi statue was also vandalised in January 2017 with the top half missing

What's next?

It is unclear whether this statue will be repaired or replaced. Having seen two acts of vandalism that destroyed the statue that is situated on the 'Glory Walkway' alongisde statues of other Argentine stars such as Gabriela Sabatini (tennis), Guillermo Vilas (tennis), and Juan Manuel Fangio (Formula One).

However, Sabatini's statue had previously been stolen.

The original Lionel Messi statue was unveiled in June 2016

Author's take

Even though Messi is regarded as one of the best players in the history of the game, he does not exactly have a good relationship with many fans in his native country. A number of fans treat him as an outsider because he left for Spain at the young age of 13.

However, resorting to vandalising the statue of a footballer who has taken his country to three major finals in the last three years is way over the top and nothing more than a publicity stunt.