A statue of Christopher Columbus that has stood in Trenton since the 1950s has been boarded up after it was defaced by vandals.

Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora says that vandalism cannot be tolerated. But he says that he understands that the statue has been controversial in recent years.

The Chambersburg section of Trenton where the statue stands has changed over the years. The area was once predominately home to Italian Americans, but now mostly Hispanic and Latinx Americans live in the area. Gusciora says that something will have to change with the statue.

“It could be boxed up and removed. That’s going to be a community discussion we’re going to have. We want to protect the statue, much like they did in Philadelphia,” the mayor says. “I don’t think that we should be encouraging vandalism, but I understand right now we’re going through a lot of social unrest and Americans are insisting that history be accurate.”

Columbus has become a controversial figure in recent years due to his treatment of indigenous people when he came over to the Americas.