A second statue of Christopher Columbus has been vandalized in Queens, just two days after a statue of the explorer was beheaded in Yonkers.
The words ‘Don’t honor genocide, take it down’ were stenciled onto the statue’s base with blue paint. The vandalism was discovered Thursday at Columbus Triangle in Astoria.
The statue is one of many that has been vandalized in response to violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, earlier this month, where white surpremacists gathered to protest the removal of a statue of Robert E Lee.
While Christopher Columbus has nothing to do with the Confederacy, he is regarded as unethical because of his association with the oppression of Native Americans.
Vandals used a stencil to paint ‘Don’t honor genocide’ in blue on the side of a statue of Christopher Columbus in Queens
In Yonkers on Tuesday, remnants of a plaster statue were found n Columbus Memorial Park. It had been knocked off its pedestal and split in two pieces.
The front of Columbus was found at the pedestal’s base, while the back was discovered on a nearby hill.
The same statue has been vandalized at least twice before with the original bronze statue stolen 12 years ago.
A Christopher Columbus statue was destroyed in a Yonkers park on Saturday evening
The plaster, bronze-colored statue was knocked off its pedestal and split in two pieces
Pat Gamberdella called the police when he found the destroyed statue
‘It’s very upsetting that American values have sunken to the level they are today,’ he told NBC New York.
Yonkers police believe that it’s just kids ‘engaging in criminal mischief’, but they still plan to conduct a thorough investigation of the incident.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said this month that there would be a review of ‘all symbols of hate’ throughout the city.
Activists are adamant that another statue of the explorer at Columbus Circle on the southwestern corner of Central Park be taken down as well.
A wave of protests across the country began after violence broke out in Charlottesville, Virginia, earlier this month.
The Charlottesville incident was prompted by white supremacists, who have been protesting the planned removal of a statue honoring Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
One woman was killed and 19 injured when an alleged white supremacist plowed his Dodge Challenger through crowds of protesters a few blocks from the Lee statue on August 12.
Since then, protesters have defaced several other Confederate memorials in the South.