New Delhi: US ambassador to India Kenneth Juster on late Wednesday (local time) sincerely apologised for the vandalism and desecration of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue situated outside Embassy of India’s office in Washington, DC, earlier in the day by unruly elements involved in the ongoing protests in the United States.

“So sorry to see the desecration of the Gandhi statue in Wash, DC. Please accept our sincere apologies. Appalled as well by the horrific death of George Floyd and the awful violence and vandalism. We stand against prejudice and discrimination of any type. We will recover and be better,” the ambassador said in a tweet.

So sorry to see the desecration of the Gandhi statue in Washington, DC. Please accept our sincere apologies: Ken Juster, U.S. Ambassador to India (file pic) https://t.co/GxoSEQzCeN pic.twitter.com/weyy9Ur7oK

— ANI (@ANI) June 4, 2020

Sources told ANI that United States Park Police have launched an investigation into the matter.

Mahatma Gandhi’s statue outside the Indian Embassy in Washington DC desecrated by unruly elements of #BlackLivesMatter protesters. Sources tell ANI that United States Park Police have launched an investigation, more details awaited. pic.twitter.com/jxRpIhqd2W

— ANI (@ANI) June 4, 2020

Some unruly elements of the #BlackLivesMatter protesters graffitied Gandhi’s statue with profanities, the locals told ANI. The statue was later covered up and an investigation was launched by the local Park Police in charge of protection of monuments in the area. The statue was graffitied with spray paint.

Further details into the matter are awaited.

The initial protests, following the death of an African-American man, George Floyd, in police custody in Minneapolis, were peaceful. However, most cities in the US have been marred by violent protests. (ANI)