Christopher Columbus could once again show his face in a North End park where protesters last week beheaded a statue of the controversial Colonial-era explorer.
“We have an understanding with the mayor’s office that statute will be repaired and returned to the place it was before, but this time with better security and cameras to prevent vandalism from happening again,” said Francis Mazzaglia of the Italian American Alliance, which is lobbying for the statue’s return.
The group canceled a rally that had been scheduled Sunday in Christopher Columbus Park where the statue once stood.
“If in the end it doesn’t happen, we’ll have another rally,” Mazzaglia said.
The remains of the marble statue were removed Thursday and Mayor Martin Walsh’s office maintains that “no formal decisions” on the fate of the Columbus statue have been determined.
Walsh last week said he did not condone the vandalism but said the city is reassessing controversial landmarks highlighted by the national dialogue about racism since the killing of George Floyd.
Native American groups have vowed opposition to any efforts to restore the statue. Mahtowin Munro, a spokeswoman for United American Indians of New England, called the statue a “monument to Indigenous genocide and land theft, African and Indigenous enslavement and white supremacy” in a statement last week.
Mazzaglia said the statue is meant to be “a celebration of Italian heritage” and called for the statue to be “restored and returned to its proper place.”
The statue was paid for and installed using private money in the 1970s. The Friends of Christopher Columbus Park said on their website it was “saddened” by the vandalism.
Monuments like the one to Columbus are under increasing scrutiny as protests over Floyd’s killing at the hands of Minneapolis police spark a larger discussion about race and protesters topple Confederate statues and monuments to slavery across the nation.
The Columbus statue in the North End park is no stranger to defacement. In 2015 it was splattered in red paint and emblazoned with “Black Lives Matter” slogan. Its head was cut off once before too — in 2006.
Boston police said they are investigating the latest vandalism to the statue, but have not announced any arrests or suspects so far.
Three people were charged over the weekend in Providence after allegedly vandalizing a statue of Columbus in that city.
Herald wire services contributed to this report.
