DUBLIN protesters have vandalised a statue of former IRA leader Sean Russell by painting an LGBT flag on it to mark the final week of pride month. Images of the statue in Fairview Park, Dublin emerged on social media on Tuesday morning with the graffiti of the pride flag marked across its front. The colours on the flag included black and brown which shows solidarity with members of the LGBT community who also fight against racial inequality. It’s thought that the protesters had taken issue with Russell’s alleged history as a Nazi sympathize. Russell was an Irish republican who held senior positions in the IRA until the end of the Irish War of Independence, but his legacy has come under scrutiny in recent weeks. Members of Ógra Shinn Féin, who came to clean the statue, claim however that those responsible for the painting were wrong to target the monument, suggesting that the vandals “educate themselves”.