A statue of a 17th-century slave trader in Bristol has been replaced with a monument to one of the protesters involved in tearing it down.
Residents of the southwest English town of Bristol awoke to the image of a black woman raising her fist atop the plinth, which has been left empty since the statue of Edward Colston was toppled last month.
The new statue, entitled A Surge of Power, was erected without the knowledge of authorities, who are yet to announce their plans for the location.
Artist Marc Quinn said he was inspired to create the life-sized work after seeing an image of protester Jen Reid standing on the empty plinth with her fist raised in a Black Power salute following a Black Lives Matter rally in June.
People look at the new statue entitled A Surge of Power. Source: AAP
During the same protest, the statue of Colston had been toppled by protesters and thrown into the River Avon. It has since been retrieved by authorities.
"On my way home from the protests on 7 June, I felt an overwhelming impulse to climb onto the plinth, just completely driven to do it by the events which had taken place right before. Seeing the statue of Edward Colston being thrown into the river felt like a truly historical moment," Ms Reid said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that she was involved in creating the statue.
"I wanted to give George Floyd power, I wanted to give power to Black people like me who have suffered injustices and inequality. A surge of power out to them all."
The toppling of the Colston statue appeared to inspire similar actions all over the globe, with a number of monuments to colonial figures removed or vandalised in the weeks after. In one instance, a statue of former Prime Minister Winston Churchill was boarded up in London amid fears it would be damaged during Black Lives Matter protests.
Mr Quinn said the statue was designed to "capture a moment".
"It is such a powerful image, of a moment I felt had to be materialised, forever," he said.
"Keeping the issue of black people’s lives and experiences in the public eye and doing whatever I can to help is so important."
