Soldiers salute as they stand guard while a statue of General Manuel Baquedano, a Chilean military officer and politician, is removed for restoration ...
Soldiers salute as they stand guard while a statue of General Manuel Baquedano, a Chilean military officer and politician, is removed for restoration from Plaza Italia in Santiago, Chile, Friday, March 12, 2021. The statue located at the epicenter of the protests in Chile was removed for restoration with an order by the National Monuments Council. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
Cranes remove the statue of Gen. Manuel Baquedano, a Chilean military officer and politician, at Plaza Italia Friday, March 12, 2021, in Santiago, Chi...
Cranes remove the statue of Gen. Manuel Baquedano, a Chilean military officer and politician, at Plaza Italia Friday, March 12, 2021, in Santiago, Chile. The statue located at the epicenter of the protests in Chile was removed early Friday be order of the National Monuments Council to be restored. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
A protester is detained by police as a crane removes a statue of Gen. Manuel Baquedano, a Chilean military officer and politician at the Plaza Italia ...
A protester is detained by police as a crane removes a statue of Gen. Manuel Baquedano, a Chilean military officer and politician at the Plaza Italia in Santiago, Chile, early Friday, March 12, 2021. While the statue was removed for restoration from the epicenter of protests in Chile, protesters shouted slogans against the government, police, and the army. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
Soldiers stand guard as a statue of General Manuel Baquedano, a Chilean military officer and politician, is removed for restoration from Plaza Italia ...
Soldiers stand guard as a statue of General Manuel Baquedano, a Chilean military officer and politician, is removed for restoration from Plaza Italia in Santiago, Chile, Friday, March 12, 2021. The statue located at the epicenter of the protests in Chile was removed for restoration with an order by the National Monuments Council. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Chilean officials on Friday removed the embattled statue of a military hero from one of the capital's main plazas.
The statue of Gen. Manuel Baquedano, a hero of the country's 19th century war against Peru and Bolivia, fell victim to antigovernment protests that have repeatedly targeted buildings and monuments in Santiago since 2019.
The bronze, 4-ton statue was repeatedly scratched, burned, painted and covered with protest flags. Protesters several times tried unsuccessfully to topple it.
Col. Eduardo Villalón, director of the Army's cultural department, said it would undergo restoration that was expected to last about a year.
The Army had repeatedly sought to remove the statue from Plaza Italia, a central focus of Chilean protest movements.
The National Monuments Commission finally accepted that petition after protesters last week burned tires beneath the statue and others tried to cut it down with saws.
