Vandals reportedly beheaded a statue of Christopher Columbus in Yonkers, New York, amid a controversy surrounding a larger Columbus monument in New York City.
The two-foot bust in Yonkers' Columbus Memorial Park was knocked off its pedestal, splitting it in two, according to a cable news channel in Westchester County.
Police discovered the replica of Columbus' face Tuesday at the foot of the pedestal; the back of his head was at the top of a hill, News 12 Westchester reported.
"It's very upsetting that American values have sunken to the level they are today," Yonkers resident Pat Gamberdella told a local NBC affiliate.
"It's unfortunate because I did go up there, and I did see it all smashed."
Yonkers police are investigating and speculated it could be fallout from the deadly protests and counter-protests over a Confederate statue in Charlottesville, Virginia, earlier this month, NBC New York reported.
Westchester County Executive Robert Astorino told the outlet "the statue craziness is getting absolutely ridiculous and must stop. We are a society of laws, not mob rule."
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio stirred up controversy last week when he said the statue in Columbus Circle in Manhattan would be among those examined by a commission he is appointing to recommend monuments that would be removed.
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