By newsweek
On Monday, supporters of Greece’s communist party attempted to tear down a statue of President Harry Truman in response to U.S.-led airstrikes in Syria, according to reports.
The bronze statue of America’s 33rd president stands at around 12-feet tall in Greece’s capital Athens. It was built in 1963 with the financial support of a prominent Greek-American organization, and it was meant to pay homage to the Truman Doctrine—which saw the U.S. give around $2 billion to combat communist guerrilla forces during the Greek civil war of the late 1940s.
But in the years since the statue was first erected, it has been the frequent target of vandals and protesters. The statue has been covered in paint on numerous occasions, and it had to be replaced in 1986 after it was bombed.
