Fearless girl statue dressed in bulletproof vest on Wall Street: ‘She can’t be fearless if she's afraid to go to school’

Group behind demonstration founded by parents of victim in Parkland school shooting

New York City's "Fearless Girl" statue appears donning a bulletproof vest in an apparent provocative display about gun violence 2 November 2018 (Change the Ref)

New York City’s “Fearless Girl” statue has been spotted wearing a bulletproof vest as part of an apparent demonstration to draw attention to gun violence across America ahead of the midterm elections.

Photos of the bronze statue, which stands opposite of the Charging Bull landmark on Wall Street, went viral after they were shared by Change the Ref, a gun control group that organised the display.

The group tweeted the photo Friday morning along with the caption, “She can’t be fearless if she’s afraid to go to school”.

Change the Ref was founded by the parents of Joaquin Oliver, a 17-year-old who was one of 17 killed inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High when a shooter stormed the Florida school earlier this year.

According to its website, the group “uses urban art and nonviolent creative confrontation to expose the disastrous effects of the mass shooting pandemic.”

The Fearless Girl statue was first installed in March of last year in Manhattan’s Financial District after it was commissioned by the State Street Global Advisors and sculpted by artist Kristen Visbal.

This isn't the first time the statue has been dressed up, though she has never donned body armour before.

Typically, New Yorkers dress her up for cold weather and selfies, placing small vests, scarves and jackets over the statue.

She's previously faced controversy, however, as the Charging Bull sculptor Arturo Di Modica argued last year the statue’s placement had violated his copyright.

The statue will go on a globe-trotting trip this month to Dublin and London, where she’s expected to appear at Europe’s Climate innovation Summit.

Change the Ref did not immediately respond to requests for comment.