How To Remove A Statue Rather Than Topple It

At 4 a.m. on a Thursday last July — in the midst of nationwide turmoil about the heroes we create when we put statues in public parks — a large bronze statue of Father Junipero Serra was removed from a highly visible location in front of Ventura’s classic Beaux-Arts City Hall. But it wasn’t toppled by protesters.

Yes, there had been a lot of protests — not only from the descendants of native Chumash whom Serra enslaved but also from Father Serra’s defenders, who created their own group called Defend Serra. But in the end, it wasn’t the protesters who…