The vandalism was the latest to hit statues in the Vigeland collection within Oslo's Frogner Park, and prompted calls for better security.
"This is Europe's largest sculpture park," noted Oslo tourism boss Tor Sannerud. "There's so much value gathered here that it should have its own team of security guards."
Early-morning visitors to the park found the statue of a toddler having a temper tantrum covered with pink paint on Saturday. A cryptic sign left next to the statue prompted speculation that the vandalism was part of protests over recent destruction of a center for youthful activists in Copenhagen.
It's not the first time Sinnataggen has been damaged. Thieves sawed through its lower left leg in the early 1990s and stole the statue. It was later found in a garbage dump.
All the statues created by Gustav Vigeland in the Frogner Park are covered by round-the-clock video surveillance. Police were studying video from the park taken between Friday night and Saturday morning, in the hopes of identifying the vandals.
