A Little Mermaid¹ statue has been coated in red paint by animal rights activists² protesting brutal³ whale hunts in Denmark. 

 

为抵制丹麦残忍的捕鲸活动，动物权利保护人士将小美人鱼雕像涂满了红漆。
 

 

The 94-year-old monument, a tribute to Danish storyteller Hans Christian⁴ Andersen, was found covered in paint on Tuesday morning. 

 

Vandals had then written 'Denmark defend the whales of the Faroe Islands' on a footpath⁶ nearby.

 

Every year around 800 pilot whales are herded⁷ into coves⁸ on the Faroe Islands before being stabbed to death during a hunt known as grindadrap - or 'the grind'. 

 

Traditionally a bonfire was lit when a pod of whales was spotted⁹ near the islands in order to alert fishermen to ready their boats. 

 

Today word spreads on social media before the vessels¹⁰ head out to drive the mammals into the shore. 

 

Hunters armed with knives mounted on long poles then gather in a cove⁵, where they kill the animals by severing¹¹ their spinal¹² chords and arteries¹³. 

 

The practice dates back at least 300 years. Locals say the whales are not under threat and the killings¹⁴ violate no laws.

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