Bristol Council removes BLM sculpture that replaced toppled Edward Colston statue

THE sculpture of a Black Lives Matter protester which replaced the statue of slave trader Edward Colston has today been removed.

Pictures from the scene in Bristol showed workers at the site at around 5.20am this morning.

Council workers used ropes to secure the statue of Jen Reid before removing it and loading it into a recycling and skip hire lorry.

The statue, by artist Marc Quinn, was put up in the early hours of Wednesday.

Ms Reid, who attended the original BLM march where the Colston statue was toppled, said yesterday: "I'd better get a picture before they take it down."

Quinn's lifesize black resin and steel piece of Ms Reid was inspired after seeing a photo of her standing on the empty plinth.

The sculpture, entitled A Surge of Power (Jen Reid), was installed without the knowledge or consent of Bristol City Council.

On Wednesday, Bristol mayor Marvin Rees tweeted: "I understand people want expression, but the statue has been put up without permission.

"Anything put on the plinth outside of the process we've put in place will have to be removed."

A Bristol City Council spokeswoman said today: "This morning we removed the sculpture.

"It will be held at our museum for the artist to collect or donate to our collection."

Last month, the Edward Colston statue was dragged to the harbourside, where it was thrown into the water at Pero's Bridge - named in honour of enslaved man Pero Jones who lived and died in the city.

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BLM sculpture of Jen Reid that replaced toppled Edward Colston statue is REMOVED
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#BLM #BlackLivesMatter #EdwardColston