Everyone was at Sunday’s Columbus Day parade — except the Italian explorer’s likeness. The Christopher Columbus statue at South Philadelphia’s Marconi Plaza, the parade’s endpoint, remained enclosed in plywood, thanks to a last-minute decision by a state appeals court to overturn a local judge’s ruling.

A fence surrounding the statue was adorned with a few signs, including a poster proclaiming “Free Chris” and another praising the Court of Common Pleas judge who sided with pro-Columbus groups, Paula Patrick. “Everybody did bad things. There’s so many people that did so many things,” Carol Tamburino, of South Philadelphia, said about Columbus’ checkered past. “It’s an attack on the Italians.”