The movement to have the bronze statue of former Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno removed from outside Beaver Stadium went to the air Tuesday.
On Tuesday morning around 10:45, a small plane pulled a banner over State College reading, “Take the statue down or we will.”
A plane licensed to Air America Aerial Ads of Genoa, Ohio was responsible for the banner, according to the Centre Daily Times.
A man who answered the phone at Air America declined to give his name or identify who paid for the flight, but he says they believe in free speech.
In recent days the conversation about if the statue should remain has been hotly debated online, over the airwaves and at dinner tables around the country.
- Special Section: The Penn State Child-Sex Abuse Scandal
In a matter of months, the once unimpeachable Paterno name has become an albatross to be shed rather than an honor. The tainted reputation results from a scathing report by former FBI director Louis Freeh that concluded Paterno helped cover up child sex abuse allegations against former assistant Jerry Sandusky.
Paterno’s name was already dropped from a child care center at NIKE’s corporate headquarters and from the camp outs before Nittany Lion home games that used to be known as “Paternoville” but will from now on be called “Nittanyville.”
