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Westchester Columbus Statue Vandalized In 'Act Of Spontaneous Vandalism'

For the second time in three months, a statue of Christopher Columbus has been vandalized in a Yonkers park, this time “in an act of spontaneous vandalism.”

Paul Martin.

Paul Martin.

Photo Credit: Yonkers Police Department
A statue of Christopher Columbus was damaged in Yonkers.

A statue of Christopher Columbus was damaged in Yonkers.

Photo Credit: File

Yonkers police said that 33-year-old Bronx resident Paul Martin was in the area making deliveries, when he allegedly spontaneously wrote obscenities on the Columbus Park in permanent marker.

Officers were dispatched to the park at approximately 10 a.m. on Wednesday morning after a passerby reported that there was a man vandalizing the statue and pedestal. Police said the responding officers found obscenities written on the statue among several other things Martin allegedly scribbled.

Yonkers Police Sgt. Dean Politopoulos said that Martin marked the statue with phrases such as "The cause of indigenous slavery," and "Moors wake up" in a black ink marker. 

Police tracked down Martin, who was charged with a felony count of criminal mischief and making graffiti, a misdemeanor.

In August, a suspect - later identified as 27-year-old Yonkers resident Emmanuel Santiago Batista - took a baseball bat to a statue, forcibly removing the bust of Columbus from the pedestal. The bust has since been restored before the latest incident.

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