Someone defaced the statue of Christopher Columbus at the City of Newburgh’s waterfront, painting the bronze figure’s hands bright red sometime after last week’s celebration of Columbus Day. Karen Monti, the president of the Newburgh chapter of UNICO, said the city police were notified after the vandalism was discovered within the last few days. Columbus Day took place on Oct. 8

UNICO, an Italian-American organization, erected the statue in October 1992. Surrounded by a metal fence, the memorial to the Italian explorer sits at the center of UNICO Park, just south of Blu Pointe restaurant. In addition to the red paint on the hands, the word “HISTORY” was painted, in white, over Columbus’ name, which is etched in the memorial’s pedestal.