A monument to Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, has been vandalized in St. Petersburg, a local museum spokesman said.

Red paint was splattered on the monument, located near the Nevskaya Zastava museum, which was a place where Lenin met with supporters before the revolution.

Restoration experts say cleaning the monument will be difficult as it is made of wrought granite.

It is not the first time that a monument to the "father of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution" has been a target of vandalism in St. Petersburg.

On April 1, 2009, an explosion blew a hole in the rear of the bronze Lenin statue at St. Petersburg's Finland railway station. The monument was restored and returned to its place a year later.

In December 2010, vandals blew up a Lenin statue in the town of Pushkin, a southern suburb of St. Petersburg.

The police have not identified any suspects in either case.