A mural in Milan, Italy, honoring the lives of Shiri Bibas and her two young sons — Ariel, 4, and Kfir, 10 months — who were senselessly murdered by Hamas — was destroyed this week, just weeks after it was vandalized.
The Star of David was removed, and the damage to Shiri’s face has rendered her almost unrecognizable.
“Those who committed this vile act are cowards who despise the West and our values of freedom,” contemporary artist AleXsandro Palombo told Fox News Digital.
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“Removing the Star of David and obscuring Shiri’s face means attempting to erase history, to deny the existence of a people, to impose an ideology that rejects democratic coexistence and attempts to rewrite the present with the ink of fear.”
The artwork outside the Qatari consulate in Milan was covered with a print last month during a memorial service for the victims of the attacks on Oct. 7, 2023.
Shiri’s face was obscured by an image originally created by Vancouver street artist iHeart. The artwork depicted a crying boy, emotional over a lack of social media attention. The vandal used the image as a base for creative liberties, adding “No War” and a red bull’s-eye to the photo over Shiri’s face.
Palombo called the vandalism an “antisemitic act” last week to Fox News Digital.
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“Striking the Israeli flag that shielded the children is a way of saying that no place is safe for Jews, not even in the heart of Europe,” Palombo said.
“The flag, in the mural, was not just a cloak that protected the children; it was also the sign of their belonging, the symbol of an identity that embraces them and, at the same time, exposes them. In that gesture of protection lay the tenderness of a people defending its children, but also the fragility of those who, precisely because of who they are, become targets of hatred.”
The children’s likenesses were also damaged.
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Palombo learned of the complete defacement through private messages on his social media channels.
It is unclear if the artwork will be restored or recreated.
“I will respond as I always have, by continuing with my art without taking a single step back, because every attempt at erasure will be an opportunity to reaffirm who we are,” Palombo told Fox News Digital.
Other works of art by Palombo, including murals dedicated to Auschwitz survivor Sami Modiano, Italian Holocaust survivor Liliana Segre and Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor Edith Bruck, have been ruined in the past.
“Free, present, and determined not to retreat even a millimeter before this tsunami of fanaticism, fundamentalism and mad radicalism,” Palombo said.
