This is the Flame of Liberty as it looked for years after 1997.
When Princess Diana of Wales died subsequent to a car accident
that took place in the tunnel beneath this spot in that year, her groupies
commandeered this monument as an altar to her, and covered it with graffiti,
paint, posters, and other vandalism. This picture was taken nearly three years
after the peak of the hysteria, and you can see that the monument was still
a mess.
The groupies finally stopped coming by the busload and the authorities were
able to restore the monument and put a railing around it. Today it is clean
again, just as it was prior to 1997.
