BERLIN (AP) — A 3,900-kilogram (8,600-pound) head of Vladimir Lenin that was removed from a Berlin square in 1991 has been unearthed for a new exhibition.

The granite head was part of a 19-meter (62-foot) Lenin figure unveiled in 1970 on East Berlin's Leninplatz, or Lenin Square. After German reunification the statue was removed, broken into 129 pieces and buried in woods on the city's southeastern edge. The plaza was renamed United Nations Square.

The 1.7-meter (5 ½-foot) high head was unearthed Thursday and transported to the western suburb of Spandau, where it will be part of an exhibition on monuments in Berlin.

The city government initially resisted unearthing the Soviet revolutionary's head, citing cost factors among other concerns. Lizards living above it also had to be relocated during the work.