Charlie Kirk Statue Sculptor Says He Received Harassing Messages on Social Media

The sculptor behind the viral Charlie Kirk statue says he's being harassed online ... receiving messages from haters who he fears may confront him in the streets.

Sergio Furnari shared some alleged messages from these online trolls with TMZ ... one of which reads, "I really want to come to NYC just to burn and piss on that s*** Charlie Kirk statue."

Another message insists no one would care if Sergio suddenly died ... not quite a death threat -- but certainly a horrible thing to send someone.

Sergio -- who has sculpted other statues for big names like Cristiano Ronaldo and IShowSpeed -- tells us he's actually not a political person and didn't support Charlie while he was alive ... but, in the aftermath of the shooting that took his life, Sergio says he was inspired by Kirk's commitment to free speech and by the treatment of Kirk's widow, Erika, after his death.

He plans to unveil the statue in Times Square on September 10 ... but it won't remain there for long -- or be left unattended -- because of the threats, the materials it's made out of and limited funding.

Speaking of funding ... Sergio says he's struggling financially -- he sold his apartment to fund the project -- and hopes an Elon Musk-type will see his work and help fund a stainless steel version of the statue that would be more resistant to vandalism.

Sergio set up a GiveSendGo for support ... with a $150K goal.

We asked Sergio if he's worried about the alleged threats and he told us ..."God will be my security." He also joked he recently broke his foot, so it's not like he can run from a would-be assailant anyway.