We learn from the world around us. Its storied history lies within every street, building, and memorial. Every statue has a unique and interesting story to tell. But while the breakthroughs of our ancestors are inspiring, their mistakes are often difficult to confront. Below are the top 10 times statues fell from grace, each episode a vivid reminder of how societies reassess the past.
10 Edward Colston
Edward Colston remains a sensitive subject in the English city of Bristol. To this day, many of the city’s landmarks bear his name – from Colston Hall and Colston Tower to the memorial statue on Colston Avenue that honors his philanthropic deeds. Local shops even sell “Colston buns” to tourists.
From 1681 to 1691, Colston served as an official for the Royal African Company, a venture that shipped an estimated 84,000 African slaves – including thousands of children – across the Atlantic. Roughly 19,000 of those enslaved perished while in transit.
After returning to his birthplace, Colston used profits from slavery, money‑lending, and sugar refining to fund almshouses, schools, and hospitals throughout the region.
On June 7, 2020, an angry crowd tore down the statue because of Colston’s links to the slave trade. The bronze figure, which had stood in the city centre for more than 120 years, was rolled through the streets and dumped into Bristol Harbour. It took the council four days to recover the statue from the seabed.
When asked about the incident, Police Superintendent Andy Bennett explained, “You might wonder why we didn’t intervene and why we just allowed people to put [the statue] in the docks. We made a very tactical decision that to stop people from doing that act may cause further disorder. And we decided the safest thing to do, in terms of our policing tactics, was to allow it to take place.”
9 Gandhi
Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently removed a statue of Mohandas “Mahatma” Gandhi from the capital city of Accra. The statue, unveiled by India’s 13th president Pranab Mukherjee, was intended to commemorate the renowned anti‑colonialist’s peaceful approach to conflict.
Gandhi is credited with playing a pivotal role in ending British colonial rule in India, mobilising working‑class labourers to protest discrimination and urging citizens to boycott British goods and resign from British‑run institutions.
Fast‑forward to 2018: staff and students at the University of Ghana opposed the statue’s existence, arguing that Gandhi had previously expressed racist opinions during his early career as a lawyer in South Africa.
Critics highlighted that Gandhi fought for the civil rights of Indians in South Africa—but not for Africans. They also noted his use of the racial epithet “kaffirs” to describe “uncivilised” black people and his early advocacy for segregation between Indians and black South Africans while in prison.
Following a successful #GandhiMustFall campaign, the statue was removed from the campus and stored securely. A year later it was unveiled again at the Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence. Ghana’s High Commissioner of India said, “We are confident that relocation of the statue to a prestigious location in Ghana will bring an end to what was a misguided campaign about certain writings of Mahatma Gandhi.”
8 Chief Pontiac
In 2018, a North Carolina dealership lost its most prized mascot: a 7‑metre (23‑ft) fiberglass “muffler man” modeled after the 18th‑century warrior Chief Pontiac. The figure had served as an advertisement for GM’s Pontiac cars, which once used his likeness as a logo.
Chief Pontiac was portrayed as a Native American fighter who encouraged tribes to attack British‑occupied forts and settlements throughout the Midwest, fighting against new trading restrictions and driving the British from the area.
In May 2018, Sabrina Arch, a Native American woman, encountered discrimination at the dealership. After failing to negotiate a price for an SUV, she bought a vehicle elsewhere, photographed it, and sent the picture to the previous sales representative at Harry’s. The salesperson, thinking he was texting a colleague, responded by calling the “Cherokee lady on Yukon” a “biatch.”
Arch accused Harry’s of discrimination and demanded the removal of its Indian mascot, writing, “By having the Indian mascot up as you enter this dealership can be misleading and needs to be taken down.” Harry’s complied, the employee was fired, and within months the statue vanished. A restoration company later repainted the chief and relocated him to a museum in Michigan.
7 Jefferson, Columbus, And More
Since 2015, protestors have retroactively charged many American legends with racism, white supremacy, and genocide. What began with the removal of Confederate monuments quickly turned into a broader purge of historical figures.
A statue of President William McKinley, a former Union Army soldier, was removed in Arcata, California. In Chicago, a bust of “Honest Abe” was tarred, set on fire, and eventually taken down. A statue of Joan of Arc was tagged with the words “tear it down.”
Students recently tore down a statue of Thomas Jefferson outside a school in Portland, Oregon. Jefferson, the nation’s third president and a key architect of the US Constitution, owned over 600 slaves and oversaw several plantations.
In Richmond, Virginians toppled a statue of Christopher Columbus and hurled it into a nearby lake. In a separate incident, a crowd lassoed a Columbus statue and pulled it down in front of the Minnesota State Capitol, then kicked the inanimate object. Throughout June, authorities nationwide removed nearly a dozen statues of the 15th‑century explorer.
6 Evo Morales
Bolivia is currently undergoing a mini‑revolution following the ousting of former president Evo Morales. First elected in 2005, the Movement for Socialism leader sought to reduce illiteracy, poverty, and an over‑reliance on US trade. Morales partially achieved these goals, initially earning a surge of support.
His popularity waned after he attempted to bypass the country’s three‑term limit by running for a fourth term, sparking violent protests. Accused of orchestrating a power grab, Morales fled into exile.
During his 14‑year tenure, statues of Morales were erected, streets and buildings renamed in his honour, and his likeness appeared on state‑funded school computers, soccer shirts, and food products. Opponents quickly moved to erase his image from the public sphere.
In January 2020, interim sports minister Milton Navarro led a group of civilians to the Evo Morales sports stadium in Quillacollo. Armed with sledgehammers, city workers tore down the statue and cast it to the ground. The stadium was renamed the Quillacollo Olympic Sports Center. Navarro told the press, “We want to go against the idolatry of Morales.”
5 Comfort Women
In 2017, the Filipina Comfort Women statue was unveiled along the Baywalk waterfront in Manila. The bronze sculpture, depicting a blindfolded woman clutching her gown, represents Filipino women who were sexually abused during World War II.
During that period, the Japanese Imperial Army established “comfort stations” that allowed troops to sexually abuse women in occupied territories, a policy introduced after the mass murders and rapes of incidents like the Rape of Nanking. The stations were meant to conceal sexual violence and control the spread of venereal disease, coercing roughly 1,000 young Filipino women into military brothels.
After decades of denial, the Japanese government officially recognised the atrocities in 1993 and has since offered financial reparations, though the issue remains sensitive for Japan and its neighbours.
When the statue appeared, the Japanese embassy in Manila filed a formal complaint, demanding to know who was responsible for its development. The Philippine government quickly reversed course.
The statue was removed in the dead of night; city workers left a massive, rubble‑strewn crater and claimed the removal was for a drainage project. In reality, the statue was handed back to its creator, Jonas Roces.
President Rodrigo Duterte defended the move, saying he did not wish to insult Japan. Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada echoed him, stating, “We should bury [the past] along with the bad things that occurred in the past.”
4 John A. Macdonald
In 1867, the British North America Act marked the birth of modern Canada, and Sir John A. Macdonald became the nation’s first prime minister, uniting the British colonies of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. He was instrumental in shaping the Constitution and driving economic and geographic expansion.
About 150 years later, a statue of Macdonald was removed from Victoria City Hall in British Columbia after “Truth and Reconciliation” talks with local Indigenous groups, including the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations.
Mayor Lisa Helps explained, “One of the things we heard very clearly from the Indigenous family members is that coming to city hall to do this work, and walking past John A. Macdonald every time, feels contradictory.” The city spent $30,000 to dismantle the statue and place it in storage.
Macdonald’s government implemented the Indian Act, a policy that sought to integrate First Nations children into Canadian society. Over a century, tens of thousands of Indigenous youngsters were forced into residential schools, a system later described by former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper as an attempt to “kill the Indian in the child.”
Stories of abuse at the Catholic‑run schools soon made national headlines, and Canada has since paid billions in reparations to those affected by the Indian Act.
3 Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson’s reputation suffered a major blow in early 2019 when HBO aired the four‑hour documentary Leaving Neverland, accusing the pop legend of child abuse.
The film centered on allegations by James Safechuck and Wade Robson, who claimed Jackson molested them during trips to his Neverland Ranch.
The documentary split public opinion. Jackson’s fans rallied, boosting sales of his music, while the Michael Jackson estate sued HBO for $100 million, accusing the accusers of fabricating a scandal for profit.
Many radio stations worldwide banned his music, and major brands like Louis Vuitton and Starbucks quickly distanced themselves from his legacy. Several museums removed his displays.
In 2011, billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed unveiled a resin statue of Michael Jackson in London, placing it on the grounds of his former soccer club, much to the bemusement of local fans. The statue was removed in 2013, relocated to the National Football Museum in 2014.
After the HBO documentary, the museum permanently removed the statue. Al Fayed responded calmly, saying, “If some stupid fans don’t understand and appreciate such a gift this guy gave to the world, they can go to hell.”
2 Buddha
Under President Xi Jinping, the Chinese Communist Party has increasingly restricted religious freedom, targeting Catholic churches, Uighur Muslims, and even Buddhists, demanding allegiance to the Party.
Only a handful of religions are permitted, each kept under tight control. Xi’s United Front Work Department dispatches agents to promote secular socialism, devotion to the CCP, and resentment of Western values.
The Party has used a series of bizarre excuses to justify the removal, demolition, and concealment of thousands of Buddhist statues. A 24‑metre (79‑ft) Shakyamuni Buddha was removed in Hunchun City, claimed to be “disrespectful” exposure to “wind and rain.”
A Guanyin statue, once a national tourist hotspot, was demolished on Xiaolei Mountain for allegedly blocking “the view for airplanes.” In Jilin City, officials detonated a 29‑metre (95‑ft) Buddha that had taken sculptors 11 years to carve into the mountainside.
The list continues: statues were destroyed because they were too tall, too visible, or placed at non‑religious sites. Some were replaced with giant teapots or disguised as lotus flowers. Over 500 golden Arhat statues in Dongyang were pulverised for having “no educational meaning.” Even paintings of Buddha were swapped for images of President Xi, Karl Marx, and Vladimir Lenin. Xi told a 2016 religious conference that followers must serve as “unyielding Marxist atheists, consolidate their faith, and bear in mind the Party’s tenets.”
1 Everything
Since the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s sectarian divide has deepened. Disenfranchised Sunni Muslims, feeling wronged by the Shia‑led government, joined ISIS.
By 2014, the terrorist group controlled roughly one‑third of Iraq and expanded into neighboring Syria. ISIS delighted in destroying statues and cultural treasures, ransacking the Mosul Museum and toppling statues with sledgehammers.
The ancient site of Nimrud was completely devastated, and the leaning Al‑Hadba’ minaret (the “hunchback”) was demolished with explosives. The public library suffered a similar fate, losing thousands of precious manuscripts.
Elsewhere, a 9‑ton winged bull—one of two sentinels guarding the Gates of Nineveh—was razed using a jackhammer. The beast combined a human head, eagle wings, and a bull torso, believed to protect the Assyrian king.
Throughout ISIS‑controlled Iraq, such ancient treasures vanished on an unimaginable scale. The group justified its carnage by claiming religious, political, and historical motives, alleging they were following the Prophet Muhammad, who destroyed statues to discourage idolatry. In reality, stolen artifacts helped fund the militant campaign, further destabilising the region.