On Monday, October 14, vandals in San Francisco, California, and Providence, Rhode Island, threw red paint on statues of Christopher Columbus in order to protest the establishment of Columbus day. Columbus day is a federal holiday that is surrounded by much controversy due to the actions of its namesake when he encountered the “New World”.

“I don’t know who did it, but they created a really healthy dialogue in Providence,” said City Councilor Katherine Kerwin to Fox News.

Ever since its conception as a federal holiday in 1937, Columbus day has been a point of contention between many different factions. The most outspoken of these groups are the Native/ indigenous and Italian-American factions, with the former lobbying for a change in the holiday, and the latter lobbying for it to stay in place. However, there has been no Federal push to change it in any manner.

“It’s not a great thing to do, but I get why they were upset,” said senior Manushi Karkhanis.