‘Statue of Liberty’ image was created using Photoshop, not ruins from the artist’s home

CLAIM: An image shows a sculpture resembling the Statue of Liberty, built by a Syrian artist out of the ruins of his house. “This is the freedom they brought us,” states a slogan associated with the image.

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The image is a digital photomontage by Tammam Azzam, a Syrian artist now based in Berlin. Azzam told The Associated Press that he created the image in 2012 using Photoshop to combine fragments of photographs showing destroyed buildings in Syria. He said it represents freedom sought by the Syrian people.

THE FACTS: Social media posts are giving new life to yearsold claims that misrepresent the image using erroneous details about its origin and meaning.

“This was built by a Syrian artist from the ruins of his house,” reads one X post that included the image and had received approximately 32,000 likes and more than 11,200 shares as of Tuesday. “With the slogan: ‘This is the freedom they brought us.’”