Workers arrived under cover of darkness early Friday to remove a Christopher Columbus statue from Chicago’s Grant Park, a week after protesters clashed with city police as they attempted to tear down the statue.
The statue was removed in part to reduce tensions between protesters and police as riots continue in the country’s third-largest city, the Chicago Tribune reported.
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Videos and still images posted on social media showed the statue wrapped in cloth when a crane stopped to remove the statue from a pedestal before leaving.
The place where the statue would be kept, and if it will return soon, was not immediately known.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was considering removing a Christopher Columbus statue from Grant Park on Thursday night, according to reports.
Last Friday, several police officers were injured and several arrests were made during a tense protest in which protesters attempted to tear down the statue, FOX 32 reported in Chicago.
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On Thursday, reports said Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot planned to remove the statue, as well as another statue of Columbus in Little Italy, Thursday night.
