Hong Kong's iconic HSBC lion statues caught in protest cross hairs

The lions were confiscated by Japanese during World War II and shipped to Japan to be melted down. They were rescued in 1945 from Osaka dockyard and restored to their former positions following year

Experts in Hong Kong could be facing a dilemma unseen in more than six months of protests: How to clean a pair of iconic bronze lion statues that have stood guard over HSBC Holdings’ main offices for decades as one of the city’s foremost symbols of colonial-era largess.
 
Demonstrators defaced the lions, nicknamed “Stephen” and “Stitt,” Wednesday during a mass march intended to show Beijing they would continue to fight its grip into the new year. They splashed the statues with red and black spray paint that depicted bleeding from the eyes, and a phrase in Chinese saying HSBC