Local activists say it's time for a change.
The statue in Martin Luther King Junior park wasn't originally designed to be a replica of the civil rights leader, but a symbol of inspiration for everyone who comes across it, but now many are calling for the statue to be redesigned.
"We are gonna lift this head off that hill." Said Samuel Herbert of the Coalition to save MLK Park. "we're gonna find a furnace and we're gonna melt this head down."
Herbert wants to use the materials in the current bust to create a new statue that will be an exact likeness of king, but not everyone is on board with the plan.
"I think the sculpture should stay." Says Mark Dabney of Buffalo. "Whoever is petitioning this is ridiculous and if anything we should be petitioning to make this a national landmark."
Dabney feels the fact the statue was created by John Woodrow Wilson, an African American artist who also designed the bust of Dr. King on display in the Capital Rotunda in Washington D.C. makes it something worth saving.
"To destroy this.... it would just be a shame."
Herbert is looking to get 10,000 signatures on his petition to remove the statue. If you're interested in the project you can find more information here.
More information about the artist of the sculpture John Woodrow Wilson is available here
