El Pípila is the nickname of a local (and national) hero of the city of Guanajuato. His real name was Juan José de los Reyes Martínez Amaro (1782–1863), but he made it to the history books as “El Pípila”.
El Pípila, became famous for an act of heroism near the very beginning of the Mexican War of Independence, on 28 September 1810. When the Spanish barricaded themselves–along with plenty of silver and other riches–in a grain warehouse known as the “Alhóndiga de Granaditas”, he tied a flat stone to his back to protect him from the muskets of the Spanish troops, and carried tar and a torch to the door of the Alhóndiga and set it on fire.
A stone monument of El Pípila holding aloft a flaming torch, towers on a hill at the edge of the colonial city of Guanajuato. And just a few days ago, the “Pípila” statue was vandalized, affecting the image and integrity of this historic asset and work of art.
Merchants and vendors that work on the area reported the incident to the authorities. However, many days passed before the municipal service personnel came to clean up this important monument.
A street vendor said that the act of vandalism occurred during the early morning hours of Saturday, Sep. 3, because when they (merchants) came in the morning, the whole structure of the monument was painted with graffiti.
Locals immediately notified the municipal authorities but they responded that “they were not responsible for the maintenance of the monument” (which is obviously absurd, who else is going to be in charge of the state assets?).
Finally, City Hall sent people who tried to remove the spray paint with chemicals , without much success.
Source: http://www.am.com.mx/