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Demonstrators climb the statue of Don Juan de Onate in Old Town in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Demonstrators climb the statue of Don Juan de Onate in Old Town in Albuquerque, New Mexico.Adolphe Pierre-Louis/The Albuquerque Journal via AP
Workers fit straps to lift a statue of Spanish territorial governor Don Diego de Vargas from Cathedral Park in Santa Fe, New Mexico
Workers fit straps to lift a statue of Spanish territorial governor Don Diego de Vargas from Cathedral Park in Santa Fe, New MexicoMatt Dahlseid/Santa Fe New Mexican via AP
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St Junipero Serra statue faces the ground memorial after being vandalised with red spray paint San Francisco, California.
St Junipero Serra statue faces the ground memorial after being vandalised with red spray paint San Francisco, California.David Zandman via REUTERS
Rio Arriba County workers remove the bronze statue of Spanish conquerer Juan de Oñate from its pedestal in Alcalde, New Mexico.
Rio Arriba County workers remove the bronze statue of Spanish conquerer Juan de Oñate from its pedestal in Alcalde, New Mexico.Eddie Moore/The Albuquerque Journal via AP
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Activists are now calling for the removal of statues depicting missionary and conquistador who contributed to indigenous genocide, according to a new report.

Some of the monuments have already been toppled or vandalized.

Statues of Junípero Serra, a Spanish Franciscan priest known for enslaving Native Americans, were knocked over in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and one of Spanish conquistador Diego de Vargas in Santa Fe was also taken down,  USA Today reported.

A monument dedicated to explorer Juan Ponce de Leóns — who enslaved indigenous people during his attempt to colonize Florida, was egged and spray painted in the Sunshine State.

Statues of Juan de Oñate, the Spanish conquistador who oversaw the 1599 Acoma Massacre that left as many as 1,000 Pueblo people dead, were placed in storage in New Mexico.

“It is an act of violence to even have the statues in our homelands,” Elena Ortiz, chair of the Santa Fe Freedom Council of The Red Nation, a Native American advocacy group, told USA Today. “It’s not just the statue, but it’s what it represented: the celebration of our genocide.”

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Protestors gather around a vandalised statue of Former Governor of Puerto Rico, Juan Ponce de Leon in Downtown Miami, Florida.
Protestors gather around a vandalised statue of Former Governor of Puerto Rico, Juan Ponce de Leon in Downtown Miami, Florida.CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images
A sculpture of Juan de Onate's group of settlers colonizing New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
A sculpture of Juan de Onate's group of settlers colonizing New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico.PAUL RATJE/AFP via Getty Images
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A statue of Christopher Columbus is vandalized at Bayfront Park in Miami, Florida.AP/Lynne Sladky
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Statues of controversial figures, including George Washington,Christopher Columbus and Confederate generals, have been vandalized or removed across the nation amid protests against racial inequality and police brutality.

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