Red splotches on the city’s Christopher Columbus statue — from vandalism in the week of Columbus Day — vanished Friday as two professionals blasted the bronzed explorer with dry ice. The ice turned to gas, taking the red stuff with it. The city hired the South Bend firm Polar Clean to clean the statue along Mishawaka Avenue that looks over Central Park.
 
Two Mishawaka-based attorneys have agreed to cover the estimated cost of nearly $3,000. “We felt like we needed to do something to give back when we saw the destruction,” said one of them, Mike Trippel, who serves as legal counsel for the city council here and for the St. Joseph County Council.