Crime & Safety

Christopher Columbus Statue Removed After Beheading

The future of the North End's Christopher Columbus statue is in the air.

The Christopher Columbus statue in the North End was beheaded.
The Christopher Columbus statue in the North End was beheaded. (WBZ-TV)

BOSTON —The Christopher Columbus statue in Boston’s North End will be removed Wednesday, hours after it was beheaded overnight. Mayor Marty Walsh said it will be put in storage and there will now be conversations about whether it will ever go back up.

The statue in Christopher Columbus Park on Atlantic Avenue was surrounded by crime scene tape early Wednesday morning as the head lay on the ground.

Columbus was one of the first Europeans in the New World, credited by many for discovering America. However, critics say his trip began the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Columbus is also criticized for his violent treatment and killing of Native Americans, who see him as a racist.

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