Locals, who had turned up in the park to pay tribute to Gandhi on Friday morning, where left stunned to find the head of the bust missing. The head of the bust was later found lying in one corner of the park. Following the incident, other residents gathered in the park to protest against the issue.

Officers from the Govind Nagar police station and adjoining three police stations were deployed in the C-Block area, which prevented any untoward incident in the area.

It was only after senior administrative and police officers assured the locals the bust will be replaced at the earliest, that the annoyed locals moved out of the park.

Virendra Pratap Singh, a resident, said: “The bust was damaged in the wee hours, as it was intact till late Thursday night.” Terming the incident as a shameful act, he said the issue of construction of a boundary wall has been strongly raised before the administrative authorities.

“Previously too, in November 2008, the bust had been damaged. So, it has to be ensured that such kind of derogatory act do not take place in future,” added Singh.

Superintendent of Police (Kanpur West) Dayanand Mishra told mediapersons: “A case will be registered against the unidentified miscreants, and we will also increase security in the area.”

Additional District Magistrate (City) Shakuntala Gautam said a boundary wall will be constructed around the park soon.