Nazi gun removed from statue of AK-47 founder Kalashnikov

Workers have removed a depiction of a gun used by the German army during the Second World War from a new monument honoring Mikhail Kalashnikov, the Russian inventor of the widely recognized AK-47 rifle, three days after the statue's unveiling in Moscow.

The sculptor, Salavat Scherbakov, admitted the mistake on Friday after angry locals discovered that the metal bas-relief behind the statue of Kalashnikov included an image of the Sturmgewehr 44 ("storm rifle"), an assault rifle used by Nazi forces in the later years of the Second World War.

Hours later, a worker used an angle grinder to remove the illustration of the rifle, according to news agency AFP, leaving a square hole in the bas-relief that depicts lesser known weapons designed by Kalashnikov alongside the AK-47.

Russian authorities presented the seven-meter (23-feet) high statue of the inventor, who died in 2013, in central Moscow on Tuesday in a ceremony that included a military parade.

Speaking at the event, Russian Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky called the AK-47 a "cultural brand for Russia" and its founder a man who symbolized "the best attributes of a Russian."

Kalashnikov became a hero in his native Soviet Union for designing the "Avtomat Kalashnikova 1947" (AK-47) that many experts consider one of the most effective guns ever invented.

Russian armies used the rifle for over 60 years and the weapon continues to be in service in over 50 countries today. According to the gun's manufacturer, every fifth firearm is a Kalashnikov and over 100 million have been produced.

The weapon has long been associated with revolutionary militant groups, many of which have used the relatively cheap weapon since its invention in 1947.

amp/mm (Reuters, AFP)