Question regarding the example for Decorator in Python's class-static variable (_component)

Hey there great folk,
Consider the following example for the Decorator pattern in Python: https://refactoring.guru/design-patterns/decorator/python/example

The section that defines the decorator can starts like this:

class Decorator(Component):
    _component: Component = None

    def __init__(self, component: Component) -> None:
        self._component = component

    @property
    def component(self) -> Component:
        return self._component

    def operation(self) -> str:
        return self._component.operation()

Is the _component necessary? Can't we just remove it together with the @property method and just initialize it to None inside the __init()__ method?

class Decorator(Component):
    def __init__(self, component: Component = None) -> None:
        self.component = component

    def operation(self) -> str:
        return self.component.operation()

Enlighten me.