BOSTON (WHDH) - Crews could be seen removing the remainder of a Christopher Columbus statue from Boston’s North End on Thursday morning as city officials re-evaluate the historic meaning of the object that has been a repeated target of vandalism.
A 7NEWS photographer discovered the vandalized statue with its head removed and smashed on the ground just after midnight on Wednesday.
Mayor Martin J. Walsh said during a press conference Wednesday that the statue would be taken down and put into storage to assess its damage.
“This particular statue has been subjected to repeated vandalism in Boston and given the conversations that we’re having now in Boston and across the country, we are going to be taking time to assess the historic meaning of the statue,” he said.
When asked if it would be put back up, Walsh responded, “We will have a conversation about that at some point.”
The mayor added that the city does not condone vandalism and it needs to stop.
The same statue was vandalized with red paint and the phrase, “Black Lives Matter,” in 2015. Its head was cut off in 2006 and went missing for six days before being put back on.
Here’s the statue being lifted and then put on a truck #7news pic.twitter.com/kb24dmeZdc
— Amaka Ubaka (@AmakaUbakaTV) June 11, 2020
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