Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees has said the work to restore the statue of Edward Colston will have “no cost” for the council taxpayer.
The bronze statue of the 17th century slave trader was damaged during a Black Lives Matter demonstration on June 7.
It was toppled from its plinth in the city centre, dragged to the harbourside and pushed into the harbour
Bristol City Council retrieved the statue on June 11 and took it to a secret location for restoration and eventual display in one of the city’s museums.
'It’s our museum and it’s our team and that is their job'
Mr Rees was asked about the cost of “fishing out the statue and its restoration” during a Facebook Live on Wednesday, July 1.
The mayor did not say how much the retrieval cost but said the restoration came at no extra cost to the council taxpayer because it was the job of existing council museum staff.
Mr Rees said: “There is no cost because it’s our museum and it’s our team and that is their job.
“And we will have that statue now with all that story to help us tell the story of Bristol and it’s journey.”
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The statue was full of mud and sediment from the harbour floor when it arrived with the council’s conservation team.
It also had an old bike tyre hanging off it and something up its nose.
It was daubed with paint, scraped and scuffed, missing its cane and one of its coat tails, and had a hole in its backside.
Conservators intend to preserve the graffiti as it is now part of the statue’s history.
They also plan to preserve the old bike tyre.
