This bust of Marianne, the symbol of the French Republic, was erected in the market square in Vire on the 100th anniversary of the Revolution in 1889.
The bronze monument miraculously survived heavy Allied bombings in 1944.
Just before the 2012 elections the monument was repainted in a bright red colour. Probably to protect it from the elements. And the centre-right mayor of Vire was defeated for the first time in more than twenty years. Now the town has a left-wing mayor.
This June 1944 photo (from here) shows the state of Vire during the battle for Normandy. Marianne is in the bottom left corner.
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