Colonial rule: Statue of Belgium's King Leopold II removed in Antwerp after it was vandalised by anti-racism protesters

Statue of Belgium's King Leopold II is removed in Antwerp after it was vandalised by anti-racism protesters because of his colonial rule...

Statue of Belgium's King Leopold II is removed in Antwerp after it was vandalised by anti-racism protesters because of his colonial rule

Removed: A statue of Belgium's King Leopold II - responsible for colonial atrocities in the Congo from 1885 to 1908 - lies on its side as it is taken away in Antwerp today 

A statue of King Leopold II of Belgium was taken down in Antwerp today after it was vandalised by protesters because of his brutal colonial rule in the Congo.

Leopold owned the Belgian Congo as his personal property from 1885 to 1908 and subjected its people to forced labour while he exploited the country's rubber reserves - leading to millions of deaths in what some regard as a genocide.

The Antwerp statue is the latest symbol of racism to be targeted amid global Black Lives Matter protests following the death of George Floyd in the United States.

The mayor's office said the statue was taken down to be 'restored' after it was daubed with paint, but said it was unlikely to return to its public pedestal.

The statue can be seen daubed by graffiti after it was vandalised by protesters last week in Antwerp, Belgium

Several Leopold statues have been defaced around Belgium in recent days as the global anti-racism movement sweeps Europe.

A spokesman for Antwerp mayor Bart de Wever said the city's statue was 'seriously vandalised last week' and 'needs to be restored' by a sculpture museum.

'Because of the renovation work planned for 2023 in the square in which it was placed, the statue will not be replaced. It will probably become part of the museum collection,' he said.

A spokeswoman for the Middelheim Museum confirmed they had received the statue and said they would restore it before deciding what to do with it.

A view of a defaced statue of King Leopold II of Belgium, after it was set on fire and smeared with red paint, in Ekeren, Antwerp, Belgium, 05 June 2020. At least two petitions were launched to remove all statues in honour of the colonial-era monarch due to historical atrocities committed in his name in his former colony Congo, reports say

There are separate calls to take down Leopold monuments in Brussels, where one of his busts was covered in red paint last week.

Leopold is honoured with several monuments after ruling Belgium from 1865 to 1909, the longest reign in the kingdom's history.

But his exploitation of the Congo Free State is seen as brutal even


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