On Wednesday, a group of rioters took down a 10-feet bronze statue of Christopher Columbus outside of the state Capitol building in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The statue of the 15th-century explorer was toppled down after protesters tied a rope by its neck and yanked it off its pedestal. In a report from the Associated Press, protesters, which include members of the Dakota and Ojibwe Indians, claimed that they have tried to remove the statue through legitimate political processes- but to no avail. Protesters claimed that Columbus signified the “genocide against Native Americans.”

Moreover, the protesters demanded justice for the slain African-American man, George Floyd, who was allegedly killed by a Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, during Memorial Day.

With the increasing tension and violence in America, State Patrol troopers in helmets stood by at a distance as they watched demonstrators pull down the statue. While they provided security in the Capitol complex, the State Troopers did not intervene with the protesters, as they celebrated Columbus’ fall with Native American songs.

Eventually, the troopers formed a line to protect the statue from being completely destroyed, as what had happened in Richmond, Virginia. In a report from The Hill, demonstrators desecrated an 8-foot, century-old, Columbus statue on Tuesday night. After they had successfully toppled the statue and dragged it for 200 yards to a nearby Landing Foundation lake, demonstrators had also set it ablaze.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch claimed that the rioters have covered the statue in graffiti and placed signs which read: “This land is Powhatan land” and “Columbus represents genocide.”

In addition, they have also made a makeshift headstone as a reminder of Columbus’ statue with words “Racism. You will not be missed.” During the protest, Vanessa Bolin, a member of the Richmond Indigenous Society, said that “This continent is built on the blood and the bones of our ancestors, but it is built off the backs and the sweat and the tears and the blood and the bones of Africans.” Another protest speaker, Joseph Rogers, added that “We cannot fight white supremacy without recognizing and uplifting one of its earliest victims on this continent.”

The topple down of the two Columbus statues also marks the increasing demands from left-wing supporters to take down confederate statues, and replace confederate names in US military bases.

Sadly, other members of the historical society had also supported the desecration of historical figures. In a tweet, Madeline Odent, a wealthy curator of the Royston Museum in Hertfordshire in England, gave a few tips on how to destroy bronze statues. Odent had used her training in art conservation to tell her 5,000 twitter followers to throw in household items that will eventually cause “irreversible bronze disease.”