The removal of New York City's controversial monument to 26th U.S President Theodore Roosevelt began this week, according to the American Museum of Natural History.
"The process, conducted with historic preservation specialists and approved by multiple New York City agencies, will include restoration of the plaza in front of the Museum, which will continue through the spring," a museum spokesperson said in a statement.
"The Museum is proud to continue as the site of New York State’s official memorial to Theodore Roosevelt."
The bronze sculpture of Roosevelt on horseback with Native American and African figures on either side of him has gazed out across Central Park West from a public plot of land outside the entrance of the American Museum of Natural History since 1940.
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