The southern Russian city of Voronezh has put its bronze statue of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin on sale, because it can't afford to maintain it any longer.
Reuters reports:
The 14-tonne, balding figure has stood upright with one arm outstretched -- one of several typical Lenin poses -- in the main square of Voronezh, some 500 km (311 miles) southwest of Moscow, for 60 years, state-run Vesti-24 television showed.
But the city-owned company responsible for his upkeep has gone bankrupt and is looking for a new owner who can afford present repairs costing 1.5 million roubles ($49,420), popular daily Komsomolskaya Pravda reported.
"It (statue) is under state protection and the law dictates that the owner is obliged to provide free access to it," the paper quoted the head of Voronezh's culture department Ivan Chukhnov as saying. "People have to be able to visit him (Lenin), and lay flowers," he added.