Early Wednesday morning, a work crew removed the statue of Christopher Columbus from in front of Columbus City Hall in Ohio, where it has sat for 65 years after being donated by Genoa, Columbus’ Italian sister city.
The statue was taken off its pedestal before 6:30 a.m. and rotated to face City Hall. An hour or so later it was taken away on a flatbed truck, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
Democratic Mayor Andrew Ginther said the Columbus Art Commission had been tasked with replacing the statue due to its jurisdiction over all city-owned art.
“For many people in our community, the statue represents patriarchy, oppression, and divisiveness,” Ginther said. “That does not represent our great city, and we will no longer live in the shadow of our ugly past.”
Whether the statue’s immediate replacement is temporary or permanent is also open for debate, The Dispatch reported.