The scabbard of the statue's sword was bent back almost 45 degrees in the attack, cracking the sword in the process. The damage provoked strong criticism from the statue's sculptor Jim Connolly and Mayor of Limerick Cllr John Gilligan, who described the vandals responsible as "uncivilised."

City Council Arts Officer Sheila Deegan told the Limerick Leader this Thursday that a complaint has been lodged with gardai, and that Mr Connolly had been contacted about repairing the statue.

"It's no excuse, but this is the nature of anything in the public realm. The statue outside AIB had it's hurley damaged some time ago. Obviously we are looking into the matter" she said, adding that funds were available in the Arts Office's operating budget to pay for the work.

Mr Connolly said that preliminary discussions had taken place with the Arts Office with regards the repairs. He said he was unsure how long the work would take, but that they needed to commence as soon as possible.

Click on play to watch Ger Fitzgibbon's video report