Workers arrived under cover of darkness early Friday to remove a Christopher Columbus statue from Chicago’s Grant Park – a week after rioters clashed with city police as they attempted to tear the statue down.

The statue was being removed partly to de-escalate tensions between protesters and police as unrest continues in the nation’s third-largest city, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot made the decision to remove the statue -- as well as another Columbus one in Little Italy earlier Thursday, according to FOX 32 in Chicago.

Videos and still images posted on social media showed the statue draped in a cloth as a crane pulled up to dislodge the statue from a pedestal before driving off.

Where the statue would be stored – and whether it will return anytime soon – wasn’t immediately known.

The statue was removed around 3 a.m. Friday after hours of tense arguments between proponents of its removal and supporters of the statue, FOX 32 reported.