Bronze Nazi Eagle Won't Become a Dove After All

A bronze eagle that was cast by the Nazis won't become a dove after all. The 6-foot-tall eagle, which holds a swastika in its talons, formerly adorned a battleship used by the Nazis called the Admiral Graf Spee. The BBC reports the Graf Spee managed to take down eight Allied merchant ships between September 1939 and December 1939, when it was damaged in battle and scuttled by a captain who feared what the British might learn if they managed to capture the ship. The wreck was found off the coast of Uruguay in 2006 by treasure hunters who fought to have it sold. Though a 2019 court decision went their way, the country's Supreme Court in 2022 ultimately determined it belonged to the Uruguayan state, whose president on Friday said the eagle would be melted down and recast as a dove. No more.

Though President Luis Lacalle Pou on Friday said, "It occurred to us that this symbol of war could undergo a transformation into a symbol of peace or union," and despite sculptor Pablo Atchugarry being engaged to create the piece, an about-face followed on Sunday. The New York Times reports the turnaround was prompted in part by a petition that called for the 700-pound eagle to instead go to a museum and attracted thousands of signatures. "In the few hours that have passed [since the announcement], an overwhelming majority of people has come forward who don't share the decision. When you aim for peace, the first thing you need to do is create unity and this [idea] clearly didn't," Lacalle Pou said. No next steps have been announced. (More Uruguay stories.)