A vandalized statue of Louis XVI, the last king under the Ancien Régime in France, has been removed from the largest city in Kentucky, a collateral victim of the racial tensions that agitate America.
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Spotted with graffiti, the 9-ton monument and its pedestal with the engraved “
King of France
”
inscription
were hoisted up on Thursday, September 3 and stored away from the sight of residents of Louisville, which takes its name from Louis XVI .
"
Given the damaged condition of the statue, the authorities are concerned about the risk of additional damage that could cause injury to the public,
" said Greg Fischer, the mayor of Louisville in a statement.
Tensions have been running high in this Midwestern town since police killed Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old African-American woman there on March 13, after breaking down the door to her apartment.
Made by sculptor Achille Valois in the 1820s, the statue was donated in 1967 to Louisville by Montpellier, in the name of the twinning between the two cities.
The statue of the king guillotined in 1793, carved from a block of Carrara marble, has suffered extensive damage in recent months.
A protester had notably amputated at the end of May the right arm of the effigy.
The Count of Paris, claiming Orleanist to the throne of France, had “
deeply regretted
” this act of vandalism.
