Man arrested for defacing Algeria's infamous nude woman statue in Setif

Authorities in Algeria have arrested a young man accused of attempting to destroy the iconic 'Woman of Ain El Fouara' statue in central Setif, in what marks the latest attack on one of the country's most controversial public monuments.

The incident took place late Tuesday into Wednesday. According to the Setif Governorate, the suspect was in an "advanced state of intoxication" when he tried to deface the marble sculpture. Security forces intervened swiftly and arrested him at the scene. He is currently under investigation to determine his motives.

The statue's face suffered significant damage before police intervened.

"The perpetrator was in an advanced state of drunkenness and vandalised the statue’s face," said Hashemi Amer, Director of Culture for the Setif province.

"The damage could have been worse if not for the swift intervention of police, who have been guarding the site continuously for some time." Authorities had only recently completed a restoration of the statue in June 2023 following an earlier act of vandalism.

Known as 'Ain El Fouara' after the natural spring that flows year-round from the monument’s base, the statue features a marble sculpture of a nude woman, carved with exceptional precision. It has long drawn both admiration and controversy.

The statue was installed in 1898 during the French colonial era, reportedly at the behest of the French governor of Sétif.

According to historians, the governor was displeased by Muslim worshippers using the spring - located just 100 meters from the city’s historic mosque - for ritual ablutions.

He commissioned French sculptor Francis de Saint-Vidal to craft a nude female figure, hoping to deter Muslims from frequenting the site.

The effort backfired. On the morning after its unveiling, worshippers returned to the spring as usual, ignoring the sculpture. Over time, many locals began viewing the statue as a kind of folkloric saint or protector, with people visiting it to seek blessings from the water flowing beneath its feet.

Critics of the statue object to its depiction of a nude woman in a public space, viewing it as offensive to religious and cultural sensibilities.

Tuesday's incident is the fourth such attack since 2017. That year saw minor damage inflicted on the sculpture. In August 2018, an extremist shattered parts of it.

On 2 December 2023, another young man used the distraction of a football match to strike the statue with a hammer before being apprehended by police.

Earlier still, in 1997, a group of armed militants bombed the statue, partially destroying it.

Similar attacks occurred in 2006. In response, some members of parliament have called for the statue to be removed from public space and placed in a museum, arguing it "offends public decency" and should be protected from further harm.