Police Investigating After ‘Ugly’ Effigy of Greta Thunberg Found Hanging From Bridge

Authorities in Italy are investigating after an effigy of teen climate activist Greta Thunberg was found suspended by a noose on a bridge in Rome, according to multiple reports.

Italian media outlets on Monday said a group named Gli Svegli, which means “The Awake,” has taken responsibility for the stunt.

Vergognoso il manichino di @GretaThunberg ritrovato appeso a un ponte nella nostra città. A lei e alla sua famiglia la mia solidarietà e quella di tutta @Roma. Il nostro impegno sul clima non si ferma. pic.twitter.com/YXMXMJDA3D

— Virginia Raggi (@virginiaraggi) October 7, 2019

A sign reading “Greta is your God” was also found on the dummy, which was dressed in a yellow poncho and had pigtails, Yahoo News UK reported.

MORE: Photo of Greta Thunberg Wearing an ‘Antifascist’ T-Shirt Resurfaces

Firefighters have since removed the effigy, and the mayor of Rome, Viginia Raggi, said in a Twitter post that the scene was “shameful.”

Raggi also said she stood in “solidarity” with Thunberg.

Leftist PD party leader Nicola Zingaretti joined Raggi in condemning the spectacle, calling it a display of “grisly violence,” according to Yahoo News UK.

“Greta Thunberg, I’m so sorry there are people like this out there”

Zingaretti and Raggi’s outrage was shared by Thunberg’s legion of supporters on social media.

The Swedish teen’s allies have been forceful in pushing back against critiques of the prominent activist.

Last month, following a star-making viral speech to United Nations Leaders, Thunberg’s supporters lamented that she’d been turned into a meme.

MORE: Greta Thunberg Fans Beg Twitter Not to Turn Her Into a Meme: ‘She’s Too Pure for This Life’

“[S]he’s too pure for this life,” one commenter averred.

me: please don’t meme greta thunberg, please please please she’s too pure for this life please pl-

the internet: pic.twitter.com/gh6tBJ7Zlq

— carey keyes (@imcareykeyes) September 23, 2019

Richard Kim, enterprise director for HuffPost, finger-wagged at anyone who failed to take Thunberg, and climate change activists like her, seriously.

“The climate kids aren’t cute. They are furious. Greta Thunberg’s stern face isn’t a meme, it’s the face of righteous outrage. It’s a challenge,” Kim tweeted.

Commenters reacting to news of the effigy this week were similarly outraged and disturbed.

Truly disturbed to discover there has been an effigy of @GretaThunberg hung off a bridge in Rome.

Anybody should be able to freely speak their mind without fear. The fact there is literal death threats against a child protecting her future is disgusting.https://t.co/DxO9f4JK0u

— Hannah Graham 🌍 (@hannarrr_) October 7, 2019

“This is literally never an okay way to express your feelings towards another human being, but CERTAINLY NOT towards a f—–g CHILD. I am appalled,” wrote one commenter.

@GretaThunberg I’m so sorry there are people like this out there. You’re doing amazing.

— Madison Meyer (@MsMadisonMeyer) October 8, 2019

“I’m so sorry there are people like this out there. You’re doing amazing,” said one Twitter user, directly tagging Thunberg in her tweet.

…just saw something so ugly that I won't Share it: a hanged effigy of Greta Thunberg on a bridge in Rome. This kind of malevolence is out there.

— J.A. Fludd (@JAF_universe) October 7, 2019

Another commenter said the affair was “so ugly,” he was declining to share an image of it on Twitter.

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