SAGINAW, MICHIGAN — A Christopher Columbus memorial that stands in front of Saginaw County's government offices was covered in red paint on the annual holiday honoring the explorer. Workers arrived at the Saginaw County Governmental Center on the morning of Monday, Oct. 10, to find the paint splashed on the front of the monument, which stands in between benches near the steps leading up the building doors.

Oct. 10 was the second Monday in October and, thus, was the day that the United States this year observed Columbus Day, which celebrates the anniversary of Columbus arriving in the Americas on Oct. 12, 1492.
Saginaw County Sheriff's Lt. Mike Gomez said investigators will review video surveillance to determine a possible suspect and exactly when the vandalism occurred. Investigators believe somebody vandalized the memorial sometime overnight because the paint was relatively fresh when workers arrived later in the morning, authorities said. Several red footprints that lead away from the memorial are evident in the immediate area, as is at least one footprint on a step leading away from the building toward Court Street. By noon Monday, county maintenance workers had washed the paint off the memorial.
Columbus was an Italian explorer whose four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean were funded by Spain. The Saginaw Lodge of the Order Sons of Italy placed the memorial in front of the Saginaw County building in September 1991.