Protesters topple Christopher Columbus statue in Baltimore, roll it into harbor

These are the remains of a Christopher Columbus statue in Baltimore after it was ripped from its pedestal by protesters Saturday. (Karl Merton Ferron/TNS)

Christopher Columbus has rediscovered the Atlantic Ocean.

Protesters tore down a statue of the 15th century explorer Saturday night in Baltimore and rolled it into the city’s Inner Harbor, the Baltimore Sun reported.

The monument, which was one of three in the city, stood near the city’s Little Italy neighborhood, according to the Sun. It’s one of many Columbus statues that have either been removed by cities or forcibly toppled by anti-racism protesters in recent weeks.

Baltimore mayor Bernard Young said that the city was more focused on protecting people than monuments, the Sun reported. Demonstrators used ropes to tear down this particular statue.

Two Columbus monuments remain standing in Baltimore, according to the Sun. One, an obelisk first dedicated in 1792, is believed to be the oldest in the country.

Likenesses of the Italian colonizer, alongside those honoring Confederates and enslavers, have become targets of nationwide demonstrations against racism.

Earlier Saturday, police in Waterbury, Conn., said they were trying to find who had beheaded a Columbus statue in front of the town’s city hall. A similar beheading occurred in Boston in early June.

Columbus himself never set foot in what would become the United States of America, first landing in the Bahamas in 1492. He would cross the Atlantic from Europe three more times after his well-known inaugural voyage, visiting Caribbean islands as well as Central and South American coasts.

He was also about 500 years behind Leif Erikson.