A 25-year-old San Jose resident on Friday was arrested and later released for vandalizing the Christopher Columbus statue inside San Jose City Hall, according to police.
The suspect, who has been identified as Gina Darlene Gonzales, wiped paint on the statue Thursday afternoon and walked away without being apprehended, police said.
Gonzales was arrested the following day after a security officer, who works at city hall, spotted Gonzales at the Martin Luther King Library, according to police. Officers detained the suspect and, after looking at the surveillance footage, confirmed that Gonzales was the one who vandalized the statue.
Gonzales was arrested, handed a criminal citation and released at the scene, according to police.
An activist group has previously called for the statue to be removed because they find it to be offensive.
