Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that one cannot diminish greatness of great men by attacking their statues.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi on Saturday hit out at those who vandalised Mahatma Gandhi's statue at a Jalaun college in Uttar Pradesh saying the "cowards" who hide in the darkness of the night, cannot diminish greatness of great men by such attacks.

"A few days ago, the statue of Babasaheb Ambedkar was vandalised by anti-social elements in Uttar Pradesh. Now the statue of Mahatma Gandhi has been broken in Jalaun," the Congress general secretary tweeted in Hindi.

"The cowards who vandalise statues have only this achievement in their life that they tried to insult great people hiding in the darkness of the night," Ms Gandhi said, adding, "you cannot diminish the greatness of these great men by attacking their statues."

का अपमान करने की कोशिश करते हो? मूर्तियों पर हमला करके इन महापुरुषों की महानता का एक अंश भी तुम हिला-डुला नहीं सकते।

2/2 — Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) September 14, 2019

The residents had staged a protest in the college compound soon after the statue was vandalised on Friday.

"The statue has been fixed and re-installed. An FIR will be registered and action will also be taken. We will investigate the matter. I would request people to respect the father of our nation and behave responsibly," senior police officer Awadhesh Singh was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

"This statue was installed here in 1970 and on Friday morning the statue was decapitated. I suspect that the statue has been vandalised by people who are against Mahatma Gandhi's ideologies. We all strongly condemn this act," a protestor had said.

(With inputs from ANI)