A statue depicting the famous scene of a sailor kissing a woman in New York's Times Square as people celebrate the end of World War II has been spray painted ‘#MeToo’.

Police say the graffiti covers a part of the leg of the woman being kissed in Florida where the statue is on loan to the city.

The vandalism is believed to have been committed Monday, a day after the death of the sailor in the iconic photo, George Mendonsa, at the age of 95 who the photographer described was running down the street and grabbing any girl in sight.