MALMO, Sweden－In Zlatan Ibrahimovic's hometown of Malmo, soccer fans felt the iconic star could do no wrong. However, his decision to invest in the city's bitter rival on the pitch is an unforgivable sin to many.

Since announcing a month ago that he was buying a stake in Stockholm-based club Hammarby, Ibrahimovic's bronze statue in Malmo has been regularly vandalized.

It was only unveiled in October, in the presence of thousands of fans, outside the stadium of Malmo FF－the southern Swedish team where Ibrahimovic made his professional debut in 1999 and a major rival of Hammarby.

A rope was placed around the statue's neck and the word "Judas" daubed across the front door of his residence in Stockholm.

"He's lost to Malmo, the relationship is over," said Kaveh Hosseinpour, vice-president of the Malmo supporters' club.

The star himself has yet to truly address the controversy, only saying that he "didn't see it," when asked by celebrity news outlet TMZ.

The son of a Bosnian and a Croatian, Ibrahimovic grew up in Rosengard, a tough working-class neighborhood of Malmo with a high immigrant population.

Rosengard is where he kicked his first soccer ball, surrounded by decaying concrete buildings. It was also the place where his legend was first forged.

"Not a day goes by without a young man telling me he's the new Zlatan," said Ivan Milosevic, who played alongside Ibrahimovic as a child at FBK Balkan, where he is now president.

Ibrahimovic turned out for many of Europe's top teams, such as Ajax, AC Milan, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United, before he signed for Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy in 2018. The 38-year-old is currently without a club but was this week linked with Everton.

Ikea, ABBA, and Zlatan

As one of the best players of his generation, Ibrahimovic can be considered "a national public good" in Sweden, according to Johanna Franden, a sports writer with daily newspaper Aftonbladet.

Among young people with immigrant backgrounds, Ibrahimovic has become even more of a symbol, as his cocky attitude, individualism and zealous ambition stand in stark contrast to cardinal values of humility and modesty still apparent in the traditionally Lutheran country.

With 62 goals in 116 games, Ibrahimovic is Sweden's all-time leading scorer. He retired from international duty in 2016.

"Now Sweden isn't just Ikea, ABBA and the meatballs, but it's Zlatan, Ikea, ABBA and the meatballs," said Hosseinpour.

Previously, his fans have been ready to forgive almost everything the player has done, and vehemently defended his sometimes controversial statements.

But for many the investment in a rival club was simply too much to bear.

"We were very surprised" when he said he was acquiring a 25 percent stake in Hammarby," said Frida Trollmyr, Malmo's deputy mayor in charge of culture and sport.

Ibrahimovic also had the audacity to say he intended to make Hammarby－whose lone Swedish title came in 2001－the best club in Scandinavia. By comparison, Malmo is the record 20-time domestic champion.

Racial slurs

"Zlatan has received a lot of respect and love from Rosengard, Malmo and Malmo FF," said Katarzyne Herd, an ethnologist focusing on Swedish soccer clubs.

"But he has refused to pay it back with what his supporters were craving, which is loyalty."

Rakel Chukri, an editorial writer for the local newspaper Sydsvenskan, also said that his immigrant background means some people feel that his "debt of loyalty" to the city is even greater.

"Racial slurs are always close at hand when Zlatan is criticized because he is such a symbol for immigrants in Sweden," said Franden.

In one act of vandalism, the words Cigani do ("gypsy" in South Slavic languages, and "die" in Swedish) were written in front of his defaced statue.

Even in his old neighborhood of Rosengard his star has faded somewhat and the disenchantment can even be read on the concrete.

Over a tunnel, a few hundred meters from the house he grew up in, one of his quotes has been put up: "You can take a guy out of Rosengard. But you can't take Rosengard out of the guy." However, a recent addition to the quote reads: "But the guy can buy his way out."