The statue was being removed partly to de-escalate tensions between protesters and police as unrest continues in the nation’s third-largest city, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot made the decision to remove the statue — as well as another Columbus one in Little Italy earlier Thursday, according to FOX 32 in Chicago.

Videos and still images posted on social media showed the statue draped in a cloth as a crane pulled up to dislodge the statue from a pedestal before driving off.