A huge mural featuring the drowned Syrian toddler Aylan Kurdi was smeared with white paint by unidentified person(s) in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported on Thursday.

Two artists painted a 120-square-metre mural featuring Aylan Kurdi on March 9 in the German city of Frankfurt am Main. Oğuz Şen and Justus Becker used the concrete surface of the city's eastern harbor for their political piece of art.

The two artists reportedly thought a lot about whether or not to paint Kurdi. Ultimately, the local council gave permission for the mural to be painted on a wall next to a pier on the eastern side of the city. Şen and Becker spent approximately 40 hours on the 120-square-meter mural.

The artists also got approval for the distribution of the image in the media from Kurdi's father. Getting this approval was reportedly very important for the two artists. "Otherwise, we would not have done it," Şen explained.

According to the police, it was not clear who damaged the artwork, which is a highly visible image near the European Central Bank. Kurdi became an iconic symbol of the plight of migrants after his tiny body was discovered last year washed ashore a Turkish beach.