Ukrainian protesters topple iconic Lenin statue

Ukrainian protesters have toppled a statue of Vladimir Lenin — and police reportedly stood by watching.

The protesters took down the statue in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, on Sunday night. Thousands watched the statue fall, and police allegedly did not stop the protesters, though a criminal investigation into the property destruction has been opened.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov wrote "let him fall" on his Facebook page, in reference to the statue. "If only this bloody communist idol, leaving, did not add to his victims' count," Avakov wrote, according to a translation by RT.

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To take down the statue of the Bolshevik Revolution leader, the protesters scaled the monument, carved "Glory to Ukraine" into it, and sawed off its legs, reports Voice of America, adding that more than 160 monuments of Lenin have been toppled since Dec. 8. Check out the protesters taking down the statue in the video below. --Meghan DeMaria