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The head of a Christopher Columbus statue in a Yonkers, N.Y., city park was removed and discarded next to a plastic bag.
“At this point, it’s possibly kids engaging in criminal mischief. But we’re going to conduct a thorough investigation and see what we find. But it appears just criminal mischief at this time,” Yonkers Police Commissioner Charles Gardner said.
“It’s very upsetting that American values have sunken to the level they are today,” said lifelong Yonkers resident Pat Gamberdella, who called the police when he saw the damage to the statue.
The city has faced an increased amount of pressure to remove another Christopher Columbus statue amid fallout from a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., which contributed to the deaths of three — counter-protester Heather Heyer and two Virginia state troopers.
This is the third documented incident of vandalism against the Yonkers statue. The original statue was also stolen 12 years ago.
RELATED: Catholic school causes a stir by removing religious statues in effort to be more inclusive
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