This image was removed due to legal reasons.

If you measure the legacy of historical figures by how their statues are defaced, Christopher Columbus is not having a good year.


A Detroit statue erected in 1910 to honor the Italian explorer was vandalized on Monday, a day that happens to be Columbus Day. The statue was splattered with red paint and had a hatchet taped to its forehead.

A photo of the vandalized statue was uploaded to Reddit's r/Detroit forum with the title "Someone's not that excited to celebrate Columbus Day."


This image was removed due to legal reasons.

Even when it's not the holiday celebrating him, Columbus monuments have been frequent targets of vandalism in the last year, with statues in Trenton, Buffalo and Boston all getting defaced in some way.

The Detroit Free Press reports police are looking into the incident and that "It was not clear when exactly the statue was vandalized."

Unsure why a statue of Christopher Columbus was vandalized on Columbus Day? Well, here are a few ideas, just to start.