Former county executive Nick Pirro is the vice president of the Columbus Monument Corporation. The group is continuing to push back on Mayor Ben Walsh's decision to remove the statue, which Pirro sees as a symbol of Italian American pride.

Who owns this area that the monument sits on and who owns the monument? That's a good question. We have not been able to see a deed on whether the City owns it, or whether the Catholic Diocese owns it, it's you know, part of a preservation district. A City Hall spokesperson says there are no documents that dispute the city's ownership of the monument, adding the city has maintained the statue for decades.