Five years ago, Louisville was awash in protests.

Louisville police officers had killed Breonna Taylor during a surprise nighttime raid in March. Just two months later, George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis.

Through it all, in downtown Louisville stood an oversized marble statue of the last French king: Louis XVI. On the first night of protests, a man hung off Louis’ outstretched hand, breaking it off.

Over time, protesters added layers of anti-police graffiti. But it doesn’t appear people were targeting King Louis, the person, specifically.

“This statue happened to be in front of a building that was central to the protests, and so it made for an easy target,” Chris Reitz, former head of the city’s appointed public art board, said.

The city put Louis in storage in September 2020. T

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