Local Italian-Americans marked Columbus Day Monday by placing a wreath at the site that formerly held a statue of the explorer and renewing the call for the city to return the figure to Wooster Square Park. Louis Pane, president of the Italian-American Heritage Group of New Haven, noted the importance of Columbus to people of Italian heritage in this country and that the group wants the statue reinstalled. It was taken down June 24. The group has sued New Haven over the future of the statue.

“The Italian-Americans have always recognized Columbus as the one that we look up to. Unfortunately, in today’s day and times, history has tried to delete itself, but amongst us, it hasn’t,” Pane said. “We still recognize him for what he has done for Italian-American heritage,” “Christopher Columbus hasn’t been forgotten, and the people here today haven’t been forgotten,” he said.