Pollution and graffiti deface and ruin exterior of Victoria Memorial in Kolkata

From the archive record

Administration member of the Victoria Memorial says "Upper part of the memorial, due to the earthquake, has been bifurcated for the wall and the floor. From the southeastern side, some enormous cracks are visible. If you go inside the Victoria Memorial you will find up to five to six feet on the wall it has become black. There are a lot of graffitis, graffiti is one of the major problems. Everywhere there are scratches and these are very soft plasters on the wall and they are all line plasters. Once it is scratched it becomes black. There is no other way to do it, except the removal of this particular plaster." The Victoria Memorial was built to commemorate the peak of the British Empire in India. The Victoria Memorial, conceived by Lord Curzon, represents the architectural climax of Kolka