
News / Edward Colston
Thieves remove Colston statue from city centre
A nationwide hunt is underway for Bristol’s infamous statue of Edward Colston after it was sensationally removed in a daring overnight heist.
In its place is Ursa, better known as the Bearpit bear, a piece of public art that has become a much-loved symbol of Bristol.
Ursa, made by artist Jamie Gillman in 2013, was due to be taken away from the Bearpit in the coming weeks by order of the city council and it is currently unknown how long she will be able to stay in her new home.
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Police sources told Bristol24/7 that Colston’s statue was removed in the early hours of Monday morning by four people wearing masks of former French president François Mitterrand.
The statue was hacked off its base and lifted onto a yellow Ford Transit van which was driven off in the direction of Anchor Road.
Simultaneously, at around 3am, four people wearing Princess Diana masks lifted Ursa off her plinth in one corner of St James Barton Roundabout and took her the short distance to the centre.

Colston’s statue was given a woolen ball and chain in May 2018
Izzy Daniels, 23, an art historian and barista from St Werburgh’s, was skateboarding near the cenotaph with friends when she witnessed the removal of the statue.
“I had just nailed my first tre flip after smoking a huge spliff when I heard a large crash,” said Izzy, who admitted she initially thought she was hallucinating.
“Before I knew it, the statue had been ripped off its base and was on the floor. Seeing four people looking like a dead French president cart off a notorious slave trader in the back of a yellow van was definitely not what I was expecting to see.
“I’m a big fan of Ursa though. I hope she stays as she already seems happy in her new home and she’s like just a genuine Bristol icon.”

Ursa in her original home in the Bearpit
The statue of Colston was erected in 1895 more than 180 years after his death and has been the subject of regular controversy in recent years, including being daubed in red paint, and shackled with a blood red woolen ball and chain.
Colston was a remarkably generous benefactor to Bristol. He supported schools, hospitals, churches and almshouses but made much of his money from the slave trade.
To mark Anti-Slavery Day last year, small bodies were arranged around his statue made to look like the men and women packed aboard his slave ships.
A new plaque referencing his divisive past was due to be unveiled later this year, but uncertainty now surrounds its wording; and now with the statue missing it looks unlikely to be needed anyway.
Read more: Proposed wording for new plaque on Colston statue revealed