A statue of famed African-American abolitionist Frederick Douglass was torn down in Rochester, New York, according to ABC News.
The statue, located in Maplewood Park, was torn down in the late hours of July 5th. It had been erected at that particular location to mark a spot along the famous Underground Railroad, of which Douglass was an active member. The statue was rolled all the way to the edge of the Genesee River, about 50 feet from where it had stood.
The destruction of the statue comes 168 years to the day that Douglass gave a speech about the then-current status of the plight of freed slaves, titled “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July.”
Carvin Eison, a resident who played a key role in ultimately building the Douglass monument, confirmed to local media that another statue would replace it since the damage was far too great, describing the situation as “very disappointing…beyond disappointing.”
In recent weeks, rioters and domestic terrorists also targeted the Emancipation Memorial in Washington D.C.’s Lincoln Park, depicting Abraham Lincoln standing next to a newly-freed slave who is beginning to rise to his feet. Douglass spoke at the dedication of the statue in 1876, which had been funded entirely by freed slaves. Authorities built metal fencing and placed concrete barriers around the statue, which thus far has successfully stopped any vandalism or efforts to topple the iconic statue.