On a humid morning along Columbia’s Riverwalk Park last week, a jogger leaned against a 7-foot-tall brick pedestal to catch a break in the shade. Small round holes on the sides of pedestal marked where plaques had been fastened and a concrete base on top was all that remained where a statue of explorer Christopher Columbus stood for 28 years.

All of it was removed temporarily in June by Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin after the statue was vandalized twice with spray paint. He was concerned someone could knock over the statue of Columbus holding a cross from his outstretch arm. “When we took it down, it came down quite easily,” Benjamin said. “Someone with a pickup truck and a chain could have had his way with the statue.”