Red-Handed: Schenley Park Columbus Statue Defaced

PITTSBURGH,None — Vandals defaced the Christopher Columbus statue in Schenley Park sometime Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

Police said someone sprayed red paint on the hands of the statue and orange graffiti on the curved base of the 10-foot tall bronze statue.

Pat Dolente, a University of Pittsburgh student, passes by the statue almost every day and is upset by the act of vandalism.

"It's kind of messed up," Dolente said. "They climbed up there and spray painted the hands. It's a piece of art. I think defacing it is criminal."

The statue was installed in the park in 1958.

Officials told Channel 11 News on Friday that there has to be a treatment for the bronze and the stone to clean the statue.

The initial estimates are about $3,000 to $5,000, officials said, and the money will be coming out of park maintenance.

City officials said it's the third time the statue has been defaced. They said it usually happens on Columbus Day.