File:1927-2020 Columbus Monument (Richmond).jpg

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Christopher_Columbus_(Richmond,_Virginia) Columbus Monument near Byrd Park (1927-2020) -- Celebrative monument (Chicago)

In 1925, Frank Realmuto (a Richmond barber) organized a campaign to donate a statue of Christopher Columbus to Richmond's Monument Avenue; this campaign was supported by Richmond's approximately 1,000 Italian-American residents. In May 1925, the Richmond City Council rejected a proposal to donate land for the statue alongside Monument Avenue on the basis that Columbus was both a foreigner and a Catholic, and decided instead to allocate land near Byrd Park for the statue. Fundraising began in February 1926 while Ferruccio Legnaioli, an Italian immigrant to Richmond, was selected to design the statue. The statue was dedicated on December 9, 1927. Over 2,000 people attended the dedication.

For decades, members Richmond's Italian-American community gathered near the statue on the eve of Columbus Day to celebrate Columbus and their culture.[4] During the 2010s, the statue was repeatedly vandalized; these vandalizations coincided with increased opposition to Columbus Day and efforts to recognize indigenous peoples.[5] On June 9, 2020, the statue was torn down, spray-painted, set on fire, and thrown into a nearby lake by individuals protesting the May 2020 murder of George Floyd. The statue was recovered from the lake and given to the Italian American Cultural Association of Virginia.