WORCESTER - City Councilor Sarai Rivera is calling for the removal of the Christopher Columbus statue at Union Station in Worcester.

This, just one day after it was vandalized. Two suspects were seen dumping red paint on the head of the statue and spray painting the word "genocide" at its base.

In a statement, Rivera called on the Worcester Redevelopment Authority to remove the statue and for the city to respond to the indigenous community's call to end the celebration of Columbus.

Rivera said in a statement, "...We should not be deceiving future generations by continuing to pretend he’s worthy of any sort of honor and he is certainly not who we want honoring generations of immigrants that came through union station decades ago, or welcoming visitors to our city today.