Feminists claim mermaid's head

The beloved statue of the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen was decapitated as a protest against sexism, a previously unknown group said in a statement yesterday.

Danish television stations received a statement purportedly from the Radical Feminist Faction, claiming responsibility for the vandalism of the statue on Tuesday.

"We have sawed off the head of the Little Mermaid, which is a symbol of hostility to women and of men's sexually obsessed dreams in which women only are bodies with no head," the statement said.

Niels Abildgaard, of the Copenhagen police, said that the authorities had not heard of the group but were taking the claim seriously.

- AP, Copenhagen