The equestrian statue of former President Theodore Roosevelt outside the American Museum of Natural History in New York City was doused in blood-red paint Wednesday.
The unknown protesters behind the vandalism defaced the statue of the Rough Rider at its plinth just after midnight, according to a report on the incident.
Hours before the incident, the American Museum of Natural History had hosted the 2021 PEN America Literary Gala.
The statue was unveiled in 1940 and was a source of contention during the Black Lives Matter protests of June 2020, according to the report.
Following the protests, a decision was made to remove the statue, according to an American Museum of Natural History internal memo to staff.
However, the statue still stands in the same spot over a year later.
Roosevelt statue attacked with paint. The famous statue of one of America’s greatest presidents is already scheduled to be removed from outside the American Natural History Museum. Of course it should stay.https://t.co/0ozONTnMGh
— Save Our Statues -Robert Poll (@_SaveOurStatues) October 6, 2021
The statue was intended to “celebrate Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) as a devoted naturalist and author of works on natural history,” according to the museum’s website.
Given that the former president is atop a horse with a Native American man to his right and a black man to his left, critics have labeled the effigy a symbol of racial hierarchy, an advisory committee concluded in 2018.
“Some see the statue as a heroic group; others, as a symbol of racial hierarchy,” an informational plaque reads at the statue’s base.
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The statue’s base was reportedly first vandalized with red paint in 2017 by members of the Monument Removal Brigade.
