A Rainbow Sculpture That Symbolized LGBT Rights in Poland Has Been Dismantled

A rainbow sculpture in Warsaw that served as a national symbol for the struggles of Poland’s LGBT community has been taken down, and it will not reappear in its current form, onet.pl, a local Polish-language news site, reports.

The sculptor, Julita Wojcik, tells TIME that the piece was never intended as an LGBT symbol. However, since its installation in Savior Square in 2012, the sculpture has been razed six times by right-wing groups, who saw it as a provocative expression of gay rights in the staunchly Roman Catholic country.

Ownership of the controversial work of art has now been assumed by the Centre for Contemporary Art at the Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw, which says that the statue will not be reassembled in front of the museum, as some have previously speculated, nor will it appear in its current form in the museum.

Wojcik is involved in plans for a new design of the rainbow — which previously consisted of colorful plastic flowers attached to a metal substructure — but it remains to be seen what an updated version will look like.

[onet.pl]