The controversial World Peace statue was moved from Hakaniemenranta on Monday morning.
Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, public debate has heated up over the need for the statue.
The City of Moscow donated the statue to Helsinki in 1989. It was unveiled to the public in 1990. Even then, the statue was the subject of much debate.
The statue is owned by the Helsinki Art Museum (HAM) and will be transported to a warehouse designated by the museum in the eastern part of Uusimaa.
The City of Helsinki and HAM will decide on the final fate of the statue at a later date.
Since the statue was revealed to the public in 1990, it has attracted controversy.
The statue was severely damaged when three students poured tar and feathers on it in 1991. Calling themselves "Höyhenryhmä" ("The Feather Group"), the trio wanted to make a statement that the Soviet gift did not belong in Helsinki.
The group included Mikael Jungner, a law student who later became the managing director of the Finnish Broadcasting Corporation Yle and an MP.
LeoMatteoArts on August 8th, 2022 at 18:17 UTC »
"Helsinki topples world peace"
Helsinki: peace was never an option 🔫
einimea on August 8th, 2022 at 15:20 UTC »
Helsinki decided already years ago that World Peace would be removed in 2022.
...It was supposed to be temporary, but I guess it will stay in a warehouse.
Accomplished-Ice-733 on August 8th, 2022 at 14:56 UTC »
It was scheduled to be temporarily removed because of a street construction. But it’s probably going to be permanent now because of Putin’s war.
Fun fact: ironically, the statue is named ’Maailmanrauhaa’ (=world peace) but some activists painted a tag on it re-naming it ’Maailmanräyhää’ (=world mayhem). Officials decided not to clean the tag paint away, apparently even they saw it as a more fitting name for the statue.