In what the president of UNICO called “lowlife cowardly acts,” vandals in Garfield defaced a Christopher Columbus statue and damaged a local elementary school named for the Italian explorer. Police were actively pursuing leads in finding those responsible for what Mayor Richard Rigoglioso called “hateful and disrespectful” acts, and said they’d be prosecuted “to the fullest extent of the law.”

Meanwhile, members of the local UNICO chapter cleaned up both the statue, which was being protected by a tarp, and paving stones dedicated to deceased loved ones that had been spray-painted with hateful messages at Columbus Park on Outwater Lane. Monuments to Columbus, including those in Garfield, have drawn fire from protesters over the years. Dozens of cities and states have replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous People's Day.