The statue that was erected less than two months ago in honour of Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been set on fire and vandalised after the striker's latest controversial decision. 

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At the beginning of October, Ibrahimovic was honoured by supporters of his former team Malmo FF, who erected a statue of his likeness outside of the club's stadium. 

That statue has now been burned and vandalized after it was confirmed that the 38-year-old had bought shares in rival club Hammarby IF earlier this week. 

In a video circulating on social media, supporters can be seen burning the statue with pyrotechnics, and, according to ESPN, the statue was later vandalised with graffiti and racial slurs.  

Kaveh Hosseinpour, vice-chairman of Malmo's official supporters group, explained to AP why the fans are so upset by Ibrahimovic's decision. 

"A betrayal became a betrayal and a provocation," Hosseinpour said.

"So he basically stuck a knife in our backs, and then he came along with a sword and chopped off our heads.

"The statue is completely worthless now, just a piece of junk. The best way to solve that was if it was removed and put somewhere in Stockholm or something.

"Every game we go to, we are going to pass Zlatan knowing that there is a statue of an investor in Hammarby, not the statue of the football player Zlatan Ibrahimovic anymore."

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Ibrahimovic started his career with Malmo, for whom he scored 18 goals in 47 appearances, before going on to turn out for the likes of Ajax Amsterdam, Juventus, Inter Milan, FC Barcelona, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United and LA Galaxy. 

Do you think Malmo's fans were right to damage the statue? Share your thoughts by commenting below.