Report: Old Soviet monument to make way for Ronald Reagan statue in Poland

[Regis Philbin]

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/02/09/070209181018.i9acjrf8.html

Soviet monument to make way for Reagan: report

Feb 09 1:10 PM US/Eastern

Opponents of Poland's former communist regime reportedly want to pay a posthumous homage to US President Ronald Reagan by erecting his statue in the place of a Soviet-era monument.

In an open letter to the mayor of the southwestern city of Katowice, the former anti-regime activists said that the staunchly anti-communist Reagan had been a "symbol of liberty," the Polish news agency PAP reported.

As a result, they said, he deserved to become the centrepiece of the city's Freedom Square, replacing a monument to the Soviet troops who drove out the occupying Nazis in 1945.

They also said that they wanted the site to be rebaptised "Ronald Reagan Freedom Square."

City hall spokesman Waldemar Bojarun said that Katowice's councillors would consider the issue.

Bojarun said that he had "enormous respect" for Reagan.

However, he said, the proposal could cost an estimated 500,000 zlotys (128,000 euros, 168,000 dollars) and the city had "other pressing needs."

[Java]

I wonder if anyone at Katowice has thought to put the old monument up for auction at some place like ebay with a stipulation that the buyer would need to be responsible for paying for it's removal as well as shipping and handling -- that is assuming any mountains of international red tape aren't too big for carving out a passage? Who knows, if they find the right buyer(s) they may even have a surplus left over after installing their new Ronald Reagan centrepiece too.