Flo Spagnolo sat in a lawn chair facing the Christopher Columbus statue in Schenley Park on Monday. It was Columbus Day. The controversial statue was obscured, wrapped from top to bottom in plastic and tape. “I have been here since the beginning when the statue was placed here,” said Spagnolo, 93, from Greenfield. “I am so upset they want to take him away. That’s why I am wearing black. There is cruelty and meanness in this world.”

“It’s like he is dying again,” said Spagnolo, who joined a handful of people at noon in protest to keep the statue in place. Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto said Monday that the statue was wrapped at 6 a.m. by public works crews and volunteers on Sunday to protect it from being defaced. Last week, Peduto recommended the statue’s removal, following up on a similar recommendation from the Pittsburgh Art Commission.