Statue of President López Obrador demolished in Atlacomulco, Mexico

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(CNN Spanish) -

The Attorney General's Office of the state of Mexico (FGJEM) confirmed to CNN this Saturday that an investigation was launched after a statue of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador was demolished, which had been unveiled this week in the municipality of Atlacomulco, a historical bastion of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

The Prosecutor's Office said that the statue was found demolished by the Municipal Police and that the investigations were ongoing.

No further details were given.

Local media reported that the statue had been thrown away and beheaded on Saturday morning, the same day that Marisol Arias took office as the new municipal president, who won the 2021 elections under an alliance that, in addition to the PRI, also included the Party. National Action (PAN) and the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD).

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Until this Saturday, Arias had not made a public statement about the incident and had not responded to a request for comment sent by CNN.

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The statue was unveiled this Wednesday by the outgoing municipal president, Roberto Téllez Monroy -who belongs to the ruling party Morena and in 2018 put an end to the local hegemony of the PRI-, who published photographs of the monument on his social networks and wrote: "Honor to who deserves honor ".

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Until this Saturday, Téllez had not made a public statement about the demolition of the statue and had not responded to a request for comment sent by CNN.

López Obrador had also not commented on the incident until this Saturday.

Regarding the monuments, the president established a position at a press conference on September 10.

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"I have written in my will that I do not want my name to be used to name any street, I do not want statues, I do not want my name to be used to name a school, a hospital, absolutely nothing," he commented.

"I believe that the best tribute offered to leaders, even heroes, heroines, is following their example, not turning them to stone, the most important thing is that," he added.

The unveiling of the López Obrador statue in Atlacomulco was considered symbolic, since the municipality had supported the PRI candidates until 2018.

At least five former governors of the state were born in the town, among them who would later become former president Enrique Peña Nieto, as well as other high-ranking officials during past governments.

Aarón García contributed to this report.

Andrés Manuel López Obrador