why USC students covered its statues in duct tape

Despite the fact USC's football matchup with longtime rival UCLA is over a week away, students on campus got started early with a tradition that's developed in recent years: Covering the statues on campus with copious amounts of duct tape:

But why? For those of you not aware, USC-UCLA brings with it a prank war that's resulted in things like vandalized statues …

… Which then leads to things like this, the equivalent of duct-taping a statue:

Back in 2014, USC students actually guarded the Tommy Trojan statue for 24 hours a day during the week before the UCLA game:

College football: Where preemptive statue protection is totally normal.