Monument to South Africa's 'Hottentot Venus' targeted by anti-colonial vandals

Vandals in South Africa have targeted a monument to Saartjie Baartman, Africa's "Hottentot Venus" who was paraded in 19th-century Europe like a circus freak.

The incident in Hankey, in rural Eastern Cape province, is the latest in a spate of assaults on monuments that had, until now, chiefly targeted colonial symbols.

"The plaque was vandalised with white paint," police spokeswoman Gerda Swart said, adding that a resident who witnessed a group of people lobbing paint at the memorial had reported the incident.

An investigation had been launched, Swart said.

Sarah "Saartjie" Baartman, a member of the indigenous Khoisan community, was taken from her homeland in 1810 by a British ship's doctor who told her she could earn a fortune in Europe by allowing foreigners to look at her body. She was paraded in Britain and France for years as a sexual freak because of her large buttocks and genitalia and died a pauper in Paris in 1815.