Buenos Aires  - Swastikas have been painted onto the statue of the late Argentine-born revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara that was unveiled just two weeks ago in the Argentine city of Rosario on the occasion of his 80th birthday.

The local Commission for the Support of Monuments said Monday that the defacement found a day earlier on the bronze statue of Che had already been removed.

Unidentified hooligans had painted swastikas on the base, the legs and the chest of the 4-metre tall statue of late revolutionary.

Guevara was executed at age 39, in 1967, but he continues to have a strong imprint on Latin American politics as a physician and social revolutionary who fought alongside Fidel Castro to overturn Cuba's corrupt government in the 1950s. (dpa)